SATURDAY 28 DECEMBER 2019

SAT 00:00 Doctor Who (b08dd3sc)
Serpent Crest
Aladdin Time, part 1/2
The Doctor, Mrs Wibbsey and Alex become ensnared within the Skishtari Egg - in a labyrinth of magical rooms and strange characters.
Tom Baker stars as the Fourth Doctor.
Continuing Paul Magrs’ five-story adventure,
The Doctor ...... Tom Baker
Mrs Wibbsey ...... Susan Jameson
Andrew ...... Guy Harvey
The Storyteller ...... Sophie Ward
Scarf ...... Andrew Sachs
Producer: Kate Thomas
Made by BBC Audio and reversioned for broadcast by BBC Radio 4 Extra.
SAT 00:40 Dracula's Guest (b0bf49hl)
A young man sets out on a journey where the elements - and something elemental - are against him.
Bram Stoker’s high-gothic tale, set in the Austrian Alps.
Read by Bertie Carvel.
Abridged and produced by: Justine Willett.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in April 2012.
SAT 01:00 Cadfael (b007jlbz)
Monk's Hood
5. Judgement
With Edwin arrested for murder, Brother Cadfael seeks justice in the local court.
Conclusion of Ellis Peters' medieval thriller.
Narrated by Sir Michael Hordern with Philip Madoc as Brother Cadfael.
From the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael dramatised by Bert Coules.
Narrator ...... Sir Michael Hordern
Brother Cadfael ...... Phillip Madoc
Sergeant William Warden ...... Ian Hogg
Brother Mark ...... Ian Targett
Prior Robert ...... Geoffrey Whitehead
Martin Bellecott ...... Timothy Carlton
Edwin Gurney ...... Richard Pearce
Edwy Bellecott ...... Stephen Garlick
Brother Petrus ...... Fraser Kerr
The Judge ...... Norman Jones
Hugh Beringar ...... Alan Barker
Maerreg ...... Kenneth Price
Brother Simon ...... Michael Turner
Brother Barnabas ...... Terrence Edmond
Father Heribert ...... Timothy Bateson
Producer: Lissa Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1991.
SAT 01:30 Pantomime (m000clvf)
Theatre critic Michael Billington interviews the actor and writer John Morley, who loved pantomime beyond all other forms of entertainment.
On his death in 1994, John Morley had more than 250 pantomime scripts to his credit. In 1981, when this interview was recorded, he dominated the festive season with ten professional pantomimes in production around the UK, starring the likes of Ken Dodd, Frankie Howerd and Rikki Fulton.
John wrote his first pantomime at the age of 11, staged Dick Wittington while serving as a Captain in the Coldstream Guards, and his first professional production was Puss-in-Boots at the London Palladium.
The pair discuss the long theatrical history of pantomime, from its Greek etymology, to Roman Bacchanalia, the Commedia dell’arte and John Rich’s introduction of Harlequin to Drury Lane in the 18th century.
They also discuss pantomime’s evolution, enduring popularity and important staples, from booing, to ghastly jokes and the song sheet.
John Morley talks to Ken Dodd, with whom he worked, reminiscing about opulent former productions, including a memorable Cinderella from producer Freddie Carpenter.
Producer: Richard Dunn.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1981.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b05w8dp5)
Sarah Hall - The Wolf Border
Episode 10
The chase extends northwards and a new future beckons...
Sarah Hall's novel is a compelling story about personal and political borders, about power, land, family and love. At its heart is Rachel Caine, tough, untouchable, an expert on wolves, and long estranged from her home county of Cumbria and her fiery mother and lost brother. Like the wolves she protects and champions, she is wary of human connections, happy in the untamed wilderness.
Set against the dramatic and artfully drawn backdrops of the Lakeland fells, The Wolf Border explores issues of ownership and vested power, of re-wilding and of family bonds as Rachel discovers that she can choose, and change.
Concluded by Hattie Morahan
Abridger: Sally Marmion
Producer: Di Speirs
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2015.
SAT 02:15 The Snowman (b0075zpl)
The Snowman is the sand castle of an inclement season, the winter equivalent of the scarecrow, and the jolliest of the folk-figure creations.
From pagan times to contemporary snowmen, there are factual and mythical accounts of this cheery winter character ... as well as evidence of the existence of snowwomen...
Producer: Alison Quinn
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2000.
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b085b9t1)
Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey
Episode 5
Catherine finds herself the recipient of a most pleasing invitation and a most displeasing engagement.
Jane Austen's satire pokes fun at the popular sensationalist fiction of the day.
Catherine ..... Georgia Groome
John ..... Stephen Wight
Isabella ..... Ainsley Howard
Mrs Allen ..... Tracey Wiles
Mr Allen ..... Kim Wall
Henry ..... Luke Thompson
Eleanor ..... Natasha Cowley
General Tilney ..... John Dougall
Frederick Tilney ..... Nick Murchie
Mrs Thorpe ..... Karen Bartke
The Book ..... Miriam Margolyes
Dramatised by Hattie Naylor.
Director: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2016.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b069b674)
Maggie Smith - A Biography
Episode 5
Maggie Smith joins the cast of TV’s Downton Abbey.
Peter Firth concludes Michael Coveney's biography of one of Britain's best-loved actors.
No one does glamour, severity, girlish charm or tight-lipped witticism better than Dame Maggie Smith This fresh biography shines the stage-lights on the life and work of a truly remarkable performer, whose career spans six decades.
From her days as a star of West End comedy and revue, Dame Maggie's path would cross with those of the greatest actors, playwrights and directors of the era. Whether stealing scenes from Richard Burton (by his own admission), answering back to Laurence Olivier, or impressing Ingmar
Bergman, her career can be seen as a Who's Who of British theatre in the twentieth century.
We also hear about her success in Hollywood - inaugurated by her first Oscar for her signature film, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - as well as her subsequent departure to Canada for a prolific four-season run of leading theatre roles.
Recently, Dame Maggie has been as prominent on our screens as ever, with high-profile roles as Violet Crawley, the formidable Dowager Countess of Grantham in the phenomenally successful Downton Abbey, and in the Harry Potter films as Professor Minerva McGonagall - a role she describes as 'Miss Jean Brodie in a wizard's hat'.
Yet paradoxically, Dame Maggie remains an enigmatic figure, rarely appearing in public and carefully guarding her considerable talent. Michael Coveney's absorbing biography, drawing on personal archives, interviews and encounters with the actress, as well as conversations with immediate family and dear friends, is therefore as close as it gets to seeing the real Maggie Smith.
Producer: Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in in September 2015.
SAT 03:00 Puss-in-Boots (m000clvl)
Arthur Askey, Anita Harris, Kenneth Connor and Alfred Marks star in this traditional pantomime, recorded in front of a live audience.
Happyland is being terrorised by a giant ogre and his tax-collecting henchman Baron Skinflint.
Tom, the miller’s son, falls in love with Princess Rose Petal, and dreams of winning her heart. His recently widowed mother, Dame Flora, has her sights set on the King.
Then a magic sunbeam transforms his cat into the clever Puss-in-Boots. Can Puss help Tom defeat Baron Skinflint and his greedy ogre and win the princess’ heart?
Featuring rousing songs and terrible jokes, it's perfect seasonal entertainment for all the family. Oh, yes it is!
The orchestra and Charles Young Singers are under the direction of Graham Ripley, who wrote the music.
Dame Flora… Arthur Askey
Puss-in-Boots… Anita Harris
Tom… Billy Boyle
Princess Rose Petal… Julie Dawn Cole
King Tickle… Kenneth Connor
Baron Skinflint… Alfred Marks
Giant… Ian Wallace
Town Crier… Bob Todd
Head of BBC Jokes… Fred Harris
Fairy… Liza Flanagan
Book and lyrics by Chris Emmett.
Producer: Martin Fisher.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Christmas Day 1979.
SAT 04:00 The Food Quiz (b0076mlq)
Series 2
Episode 1
Journalist and food critic, Jay Rayner gives his four contestants a good grilling on their knowledge of food and drink.
Devour the secret of Stephen Fry 's home-made mayonnaise, the song that keeps Josceline Dimbleby happy while cooking, the store cupboard staple of food writer Elisabeth Luard and the best way to catch an eel, according to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Producer: Dixi Stewart
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2004.
SAT 04:30 The Phenomenon Squad (b0864fjy)
Invaders
An alien craft is about to land on Salisbury Plain, just as Phyllis's teeth said it would. The police squad are ready to greet its inhabitants.
Roy Kinnear and Simon Cadell star in Michael Snelgrove’s sitcom about the less-than-competent leader of a crack undercover police squad.
Supt Brabazon ...... Roy Kinnear
Endicott-Heap ...... Simon Cadell
Sigaloff ...... Royce Mills
WPI Nutkins ...... Susie Blake
MacTooley ...... Alex Norton
Humby ...... Stephen Frost
Cassandra ...... Caroline Gruber
Phyllis ...... Sheila Grant
Producer: Jonathan James-Moore
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1987.
SAT 05:00 1834 (b011pw52)
Dentists and Lovers
Ned needs root canal work, but 21st-century Jason needs lessons in 19th-century courting.
In Jim Poyser's riotous comedy of transportation and delight, Jason is now Tarquin, third son of Lord Belport with a faithful valet, Ned.
Jason Slater ...... Michael Begley
Ned ...... Joe Caffrey
Hoskins ...... Kenneth Alan Taylor
Lord Belport ...... Mark Chatterton
Stubbs ...... Glenn Cunningham
Millicent ...... Julia Rounthwaite
Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2003.
SAT 05:30 The Shuttleworths (m000clq0)
Your Very Good Elf
John Shuttleworth’s wife, Mary, has cancelled Christmas because their children, Karen and Darren, have decided to spend Christmas Day elsewhere. So, instead of preparing for the big day, John finds himself taking down the Christmas tree and putting away the chocolate brazils.
He is naturally upset at this turn of events, so when Joan Chitty phones for help because her Christmas tree is broken, John happily offers to take the Shuttleworth tree around to Joan’s as a replacement.
John is happy that he is able to decorate a tree after all and has taken his spirit level to ensure the tree is straight. Once the fairy lights are switched on John is happy to enjoy a mince pie with Joan and have a sing-song. However, Joan, wearing a rather skimpy fairy outfit, gets a little too over excited during the music and falls over - breaking the tree!
John beats a hasty retreat to the garden centre where he is enjoying some solitude in one of the garden chalets when Ken Worthing turns up wearing an elf outfit. Apparently, there is chaos in the grotto and Santa has run away.
This could be the perfect chance for John to finally enjoy Christmas by playing the role of Santa – as long as Ken can secure his petrol money as a fee.
Written and performed by Graham Fellows
Produced by Dawn Ellis
A Chic Ken production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 Drama (b06sggdp)
Calendar Girls
Ambridge Queen of Am Dram, Lynda Snell, presents Tim Firth's comedy drama about a group of WI members who make a naked calendar in order to raise money for charity.
Featuring Archers regulars including Carole Boyd, (Lynda Snell), Alison Dowling (Elizabeth Pargetter) and Charlotte Martin (Susan Carter), this smash hit comedy drama also features Sian Phillips, star of the original London West End cast.
Chris ..... Charlotte Martin (Susan Carter)
Annie ..... Alison Dowling (Elizabeth Pargetter)
Ruth ..... Annabelle Dowler (Kirsty Miller)
Celia ..... Sunny Ormonde (Lilian Bellamy)
Jessie ..... Sian Phillips (Jean Harvey)
Marie ..... Carole Boyd (Lynda Snell)
Brenda Hulse ..... Souad Faress (Usha Franks)
Elaine ..... Hollie Chapman (Alice Carter)
Lady Cravenshire ..... Angela Piper (Jennifer Aldridge)
John ..... Ian Pepperell (Roy Tucker)
Rod ..... Brian Hewlett (Neil Carter)
Lawrence ..... James Cartwright (PC Harrison Burns)
Liam ..... Richard Attlee (Kenton Archer)
The accompanying pianist was Simon Taranczuk
A play by Tim Firth based on the motion picture CALENDAR GIRLS written by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi
Adapted and directed by Sean O'Connor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2015.
SAT 07:30 The Voices of... (b04vdzy3)
Elly Stone
Elly Stone - a modest 87 year old New Yorker ("born and dragged up"), whose sublime voice will forever be associated with the songs of Belgian chanteur Jacques Brel - talks about her life in music.
In My Childhood, Song for Old Lovers, The Old Folks and Carousel she brings a new perspective to Brel's familiar emotional intensity and piercing social commentary.
20 years after her stage retirement, she offers a rare insight into her life and what music has meant to her - in a quiet New York studio, out on the streets of her bustling city and at Sardi's, the famous theatre restaurant.
Running through Elly's own story - from troubled childhood, through Broadway success, to marriage, motherhood and mid-life epiphany - there's a musical counterpoint that can be traced in the songs she famously made her own in the musical revue Jacques Brel's Alive and Well and Living in Paris.
Producer: Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b07mvd5z)
Tolkien: The Lost Recordings
Joss Ackland narrates a search through BBC archives for unheard gems from JRR Tolkien, as Oxford Academic Dr Stuart Lee discovers the unbroadcast offcuts from an interview given by the author.
Tolkien gave the interview for a BBC film in 1968, but only a tiny part of it was used in the broadcast programme. It was one of only a handful of recorded interviews he gave, and was also to be his last.
Dr Lee’s search for the unbroadcast rushes takes him to the depths of the BBC film archives, and back to the making of the original film Tolkien in Oxford.
For the director Leslie Megahey, only 23 at the time, this was his first film, and the one that launched a prestigious career. The programme reunites him with three others - researcher Patrick O’Sullivan, Tolkien fan Michael Hebbert, and critic Valentine Cunningham who describes how he was brought in to be the voice of dissent challenging the burgeoning Tolkien cult spreading from America.
What emerges is a picture of a playful academic, whose fiction was little respected by adults at the time and looked down on as a lesser form of literature. But he is robustly defended by Professor Tom Shippey and remembered fondly by his colleague Dr Roger Highfield.
Stuart Lee presents the results of his search through the archives to Dr Dimitra Fimi who considers any new words from Tolkien’s mouth as ‘gold’. While, for Dr Lee, the real dragon’s hoard is the privilege of hearing Tolkien in relaxed mode reflecting on his life as never before.
Producers: Anna Scott-Brown and Adam Fowler
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2016.
SAT 09:00 Writing... The Midlands (m000cq2v)
Crime Writer Mark Billingham was born in the Midlands and for this showcase he's going back to the county that made him a writer to celebrate its literature both past and present.
Along the way Mark meets some of the Midland's best writing talent. The best selling author of 'My Name is Leon', Kit De Waal, who has invaluable writing advice and a passionate defence of the Midlands accent and 'the poet with punch', Matt Windle who tells how poetry helped turn his life around and celebrates the vibrant Spoken Word scene in and around Birmingham.
Mark also visits literary landmarks from the personal, such as Kings' Heath Library where he fell in love with reading, to the mystical, Sarehole Mill, the inspiration for JRR Tolkein's Hobbiton.
Along the Way we hear the following programmes from the BBC Archives
* The Rotter's Club
* In The Studio - Lee Child (BBC World Service)
* Only Artists
* Adrift at the Athena
* Anita and Me
* The Hobbit, The Musical
Presented by Mark Billingham
Producer: Jessica Treen
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in December 2019.
SAT 12:00 A Month of June (b01jhdgn)
Spray the Grass Green
It's 1939 and fading Hollywood star Lana Garfield hears the studio wants to dump her.
Contracted to Tantamount Pictures run by the notoriously difficult and womanising studio head, Al Seltzer. Miss Garfield is writing her autobiography with the assistance of British ghost writer George Creighton but is shocked when she hears on a radio gossip programme that Al intends to end her contract.
George and his ex-pat cronies take time off from their cocktails and cricket matches to collude with Al's ambitious and glamorous assistant Betty Stevens in exacting an appropriate revenge.
Written by Andy Merriman and Peter Morfoot.
The first of four comedies written for the many voices of legendary actor June Whitfield.
Lana Garfield ..... June Whitfield
George Creighton ..... David Haig
Al Seltzer ..... Patrick Brennan
Betty Stevens ..... Tracy Wiles
Harry Harcourt-Jones ..... Robert Blythe
Edna Harper ..... Amaka Okafor
Boris Karloff ..... Peter Morfoot
Director: David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2012
SAT 12:30 Arrested Development (b0075vh3)
Episode 1
Penny and Dave are getting married, but there are a few hiccups - Penny's hair being just one of them. She wanted the Julia Roberts look but has ended up with a Mrs Merton instead.
Simon Warne's four-part comedy serial.
Penny ...... Letitia Dean
Bob ...... Phil Cornwell
Andy ...... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Joy ...... Maggie McCarthy
Kate ...... Susannah Doyle
Frank ...... Roger Walker
Producer: Tracey Neale
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2000.
SAT 13:00 Kilvert's Diary (Omnibus) (m000cq2x)
The daily life of a Victorian country curate.
Francis Kilvert was a young English clergyman and diarist, whose parish was the border country of England and Wales in the 1870s. During his time as curate in Clyro he kept a detailed diary of his daily life in the hope that it might be of interest "to those who come after me". Kilvert's love of nature, and compassion for his parishioners, shines from every page.
Omnibus of five parts.
Alastair James Murden
Matthew Gravelle
Eiry Thomas
Bethan Rose Young
Recorded on location at Rhosygilwen in Pembrokeshire.
All Things Bright And Beautiful sung by children from Ysgol Maenclochog. Other music by Crasdant.
Adapted and directed by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2019.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (m000cq2z)
JoJo Moyes
Writer JoJo Moyes chooses She's Leaving Home by The Beatles and Are You Lonesome Tonight performed by Elvis Presley.
SAT 14:15 Frankly Speaking (b05x90z5)
Gracie Fields
Lancashire's actress, singer and comic Gracie Fields answers the questions from Harold Hobson, John Freeman and Patricia Brent.
Born Grace Stansfield in 1898, she became one of Britain's biggest box office stars of of both cinema and music hall. Gracie recalls her early years and share her thoughts on stardom.
She's also questioned about life during the Second World War and the way British people treated her. The star also talks of her happy life living on the Italian island of Capri.
Launched in 1952, Frankly Speaking was a completely novel and ground breaking BBC series. Initially there were three interviewers and the series was both unrehearsed and unscripted.
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in April 1960.
SAT 14:45 Shoot from the Hip - The World's Coolest Camera (b0076xhf)
Lucy Ash discovers how in the digital age, the world still loves a Soviet Union relic - the low-spec Lomo Camera. From 2006.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b07mvd5z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Drama (b06sggdp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 The Voices of... (b04vdzy3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Dan Dare (m000cq31)
21st Century Spaceman
Episode 2
Is the reality of space exploration catching up with the futuristic Dan Dare universe of the distant past?
Science journalist, Richard Hollingham concludes his two-part exploration.
Featuring extracts from the audio dramas as well as interviews with British spacecraft engineer Alan Bond, plus actors Ed Stoppard [Dan Dare], Geoff McGivern [Digby], Robert G Slade [Major Stranks], co-lead writer Richard Kurti and producer/director Andrew Mark Sewell.
A B7 Media Production in association with Boffin Media.
SAT 18:30 Dan Dare (m000cq33)
Series 2
Reign of the Robots 2/2
Dan Dare, Lieutenant Digby and the Eagle Corporation’s Professor Jocelyn Peabody finally return to Earth after battling The Mekon on Venus. Landing in a seemingly deserted central London, they establish that, with the date being 24th June 2045, they have lost ten years.
With limited resources, Dare, Digby and Peabody set about liberating the Earth from an army of ruthless robots. The task becomes more desperate than ever when they discover the alien force behind the invasion.
More adventures based on the Eagle comic strip 'Dan Dare' created in 1950 by the Reverend Marcus Morris and Frank Hampson.
Dan Dare …. Ed Stoppard
Digby …. Geoff McGivern
Professor Peabody …. Heida Reed
The Mekon …. Raad Rawi
Sir Hubert …. Michael Cochrane
Eko …. Amy Humphreys
On-board Computer …. Dianne Weller
Original music: Imran Ahmad
Dramatised by Simon Guerrier from an original story by Frank Hampson.
Director: Andrew Mark Sewell.
Made by B7 Media
SAT 19:00 Writing... The Midlands (m000cq2v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 The Penny Dreadfuls Present (b012f5qv)
Revolution
The French Revolution was one of the most far-reaching social and political upheavals in modern history spanning 10 years and involving the execution of the King, collapse of monarchy and slaughter of thousands at the guillotine.
Starring Richard E Grant and Sally Hawkins.
Comedy trio The Penny Dreadfuls attempt to tell the epic story of the Revolution in one hour, with jokes.
Richard E Grant is Maximilien Robespierre the dictatorial architect of the Reign of Terror, who sent thousands to their death and Sally Hawkins is Marie-Therese, the 16 year old daughter of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI.
Marie-Therese was incarcerated for three years by the revolutionaries. When she was locked up her father, mother, aunt and little brother were also with her. After the execution of her father the rest of the family were moved to another part of the tower and Marie-Therese was kept in solitary confinement. It's recorded that Robespierre visited Marie-Therese at one point in the tower but there's no historical record of that conversation. This play is that conversation.
Written by and co-starring The Penny Dreadfuls: Humphrey Ker, David Reed and Thom Tuck, plus Margaret Cabourn-Smith.
Producer: Julia McKenzie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2011.
SAT 22:55 Comedy Club Extra (m000ddv5)
Most Shocking Comedy Club Moments of 2019
Most Shocking Comedy Club Moments of 2019 2/2
Jake Yapp and Jon Holmes are joined by Harriet Kemsley, Angela Barnes, Laura Lexx and Arthur Smith for a rundown of the most shocking Comedy Club moments of 2019.
SAT 23:00 Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar (b0832mwg)
Series 1
Political Beliefs
Alexei explores his political beliefs system, looking back at his childhood in a communist household, his career as a drug-dealer and his physical attraction to Boris Johnson.
The Godfather of Alternative Comedy delivers a mixture of stand-up, memoir and philosophy from behind the counter of his Imaginary Sandwich Bar.
Written and performed by Alexei Sayle.
Producer: Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in November 2016
SAT 23:30 Dr John Cooper Clarke at the BBC (b080w7lv)
Series 1
Twisted Romance
The Bard of Salford performs a selection of poems on stage at the BBC’s Radio Theatre in London.
* I Married a Monster from Outta Space
* Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
* Avocado Vignette
* I Wanna Be Yours
Written and performed by Dr John Cooper Clarke.
Introduction by Johnny Green.
Producer: Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in November 2016
SAT 23:45 Political Animals (b03k21pc)
Series 2
Bo and Barack
President Obama's dog, Bo, suffers an identity crisis.
The first of four talks giving an unreliable dog's eye view of the trials and tribulations of living in the White House.
Written by Tony Bagley.
Director: Marc Beeby.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.


SUNDAY 29 DECEMBER 2019

SUN 00:00 Dan Dare (m000cq31)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:30 Dan Dare (m000cq33)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Kilvert's Diary (Omnibus) (m000cq2x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (m000cq2z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]
SUN 02:15 Frankly Speaking (b05x90z5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Saturday]
SUN 02:45 Shoot from the Hip - The World's Coolest Camera (b0076xhf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Archive on 4 (b07mvd5z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 Drama (b06sggdp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 The Voices of... (b04vdzy3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 Jane Austen (b0868bq6)
Northanger Abbey (Omnibus)
Episode 1
Catherine Morland is taken to Bath for the season and finds that in her fertile imagination danger lurks round every corner.
First published in 1817, Jane Austen's satire pokes fun at the popular sensationalist fiction of the day.
Omnibus of the first five of ten parts dramatised by Hattie Naylor
Catherine ..... Georgia Groome
Henry ..... Luke Thompson
Mrs Allen ..... Tracy Wiles
Mr Allen ..... Kim Wall
Isabella ..... Ainsley Howard
Mrs Morland ..... Alison Belbin
Mr Morland ..... John Bowler
Mrs Thorpe ..... Karen Bartke
The Book ..... Miriam Margolyes
Director: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2016.
SUN 07:15 Shorts (b06tvwv1)
The Time Being
How To Conduct a Rishta Meeting by Nafisa Muhtadi
Season 8 of the showcase for previously un-broadcast writers.
A woman shares her considerable experience of Rishta meetings, having by now met one or two potential husbands too many.
Sohm Kapila reads Nafisa Muhtadi's short story.
Nafisa Muhtadi is a writer based in the Black Country. She is part of the current cohort of Writing West Midlands’ Room 204 Writers Development Scheme. She graduated with a Masters in Creative Writing (Distinction) at Birmingham City University.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in January 2016.
SUN 07:30 Guilt Trip (b07mxt9d)
Episode 3
On day 10 of the walk, they spot a narrow boat that reminds Laura of the Rosie and Jim boat she remembers from the children's TV show.
But when the owner invites them aboard, it doesn't all go quite as they might have expected.
Comedy drama written by Katherine Jakeways with Felicity Montagu and Olivia Nixon.
A mother and daughter are undertaking a two week sponsored walk along The Thames Path to raise money for the dead father's charity.
But the mother and father divorced nine years ago and he'd re-married, so relationships between them all have been strained. Things come to a head at any mention of the French Oak gable table that Ros and her now dead ex bought together in Camden. This has somehow ended up in the stepmother's house, much to Ros's annoyance: "I mean she sits at it! It's my table and she sits at it."
Ros ...... Felicity Montagu
Laura ...... Olivia Nixon
Stepmother ...... Katherine Jakeways
Boat Owner ...... Juliet Cowan
Producer: Jane Berthoud
A BBC Comedy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2016.
SUN 08:00 Life With The Lyons (m000cq51)
How To Be A Good Father
Father Ben questions his parenting skills, and changes his approach, after flunking a magazine questionnaire.
Starring real-life American family: Ben Lyon and his wife Bebe Daniels and their children, Richard and Barbara. Life With the Lyons was one the BBC's most popular radio sitcoms between 1950 and 1961. It was also adapted for BBC TV.
With Hugh Morton, Horace Percival, Doris Rogers, Molly Weir and Brian Smith.
The BBC Variety Orchestra is conducted by Paul Fenoulhet.
Written by Bebe Daniels, Bob Block and Ronnie Hanbury.
Produced by Tom Ronald.
First broadcast on the BBC Light programme in March 1953.
SUN 08:30 Harry Worth in Things Could Be Worse (b09lspnb)
The Blackmail Letter
When he receives a menacing letter, the biggest threat to Harry's wellbeing is Harry himself!
Harry blunders his way through another catalogue of mishaps.
Starring Harry Worth.
With John Baddeley, John Graham and Miriam Margolyes.
Written by David McKellar and David Renwick.
Producer: Simon Brett.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1976.
SUN 09:00 Last Christmas (Omnibus) (m000cq53)
Curated by Greg Wise and Emma Thompson this collection of personal essays reflects on the true meaning of Christmas.
The ten selected writers reading their reminiscences of Christmas past include Meera Syal, Lyse Doucet, Emma Thompson, Greg Wise and Deborah Frances-White.
Each writer draws on the themes of kindness, acceptance and tolerance and takes us from Queensland to Pennsylvania to the Black Country and beyond.
More sobering memories come from the Jungle in Calais, a small village in Rwanda and London's inhospitable streets.
Omnibus of five episode abridged by Richard Hamilton
Producer: Elizabeth Allard
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2019.
SUN 10:10 The Listening Project (b05xgkxg)
Daveit and Sean – Daily Inspiration
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between two friends, a musician and an artist, who have each chronicled the 365 days of a year in their respective discipline, Another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess
SUN 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m000cq55)
Absent Friends
Andrea Levy
Writer Andrea Levy is Kirsty Young's desert island castaway.
Born in London to Jamaican parents, Andrea spent much of her career describing the experiences of Caribbean immigrants and cementing the role they have played in British life. Her books have found both a large and appreciative audience as well as critical success - Small Island was named Whitbread Book of the Year, while Long Song, was shortlisted for the Man-Booker Prize.
Her achievements are all the more extraordinary because she says she didn't read her first novel until she was 23 years old. She says: "The reason I write is because I am exploring my heritage - and there's still a lot of that story untold."
Record: The theme from Small Island television series
Book: Roget's Thesaurus
Luxury: Mosquito repellent
Producer: Isabel Sargent
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2011.
SUN 11:00 The Moth Radio Hour (b09lsq7q)
Series 6
Live from Portsmouth, New Hampshire
True stories told live in the USA: Dame Wilburn introduces tales of people encountering high anxiety.
The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling based in the USA. Since 1997, it has celebrated both the raconteur and the storytelling novice, who has lived through something extraordinary and yearns to share it. Originally formed by the writer George Dawes Green as an intimate gathering of friends on a porch in Georgia (where moths would flutter in through a hole in the screen), and then recreated in a New York City living room, The Moth quickly grew to produce immensely popular events at theatres and clubs around New York City and later around the USA, the UK and other parts of the world.
The Moth has presented more than 15,000 stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. The Moth podcast is downloaded over 27 million times a year.
Featuring true stories told live on stage without scripts, from the humorous to the heart-breaking.
The Moth Radio Hour is produced by Jay Allison and Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange.
SUN 11:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00yjtg4)
Series 2
Canopy
If you walk into a rainforest you are immediately met by quite literally a forest of trees.
All the tree trunks look like cathedral pillars, smooth and wet from the rain. Not a single branch emerges from the trunk for tens of metres - and when they do you see a breath-taking interlocking jungle of branches and leaves, ferns and flowers and all number of creatures great and small. The canopy is a bonanza of tropical forest life, in the bright light and gentle breeze - a far cry from the dark and humid underworld of the forest floor.
Not surprising then that Sir David Attenborough knew this would be a perfect place to film wildlife.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2011.
SUN 12:00 Life With The Lyons (m000cq51)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SUN 12:30 Harry Worth in Things Could Be Worse (b09lspnb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
SUN 13:00 Jane Austen (b0868bq6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 14:15 Shorts (b06tvwv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SUN 14:30 The Secret Commonwealth (Omnibus) (m000cq57)
Episode 1
Lyra Silvertongue finds herself caught up in a conspiracy when her dæmon witnesses a murder.
Simon Russell Beale reads the second volume of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed The Book of Dust trilogy.
It's 20 years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey. It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.
Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child...
The second volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her dæmon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. They must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by dæmons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.
Omnibus of the first five of ten parts.
Abridger, Doreen Estall
Producer: Michael Shannon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2019.
SUN 15:45 Travels with Bob (b086kwkr)
1. Holy Island
Paddy O'Connell travels the country with his dog, Bob, talking to the people he meets - perfect strangers who act as guides to where they live.
First stop is the Holy Island of Lindisfarne - a spiritual place, with a rich history. Life on Lindisfarne is ruled by the tides and it's cut off from the mainland twice a day.
Producer: Hannah Marshall
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2016.
SUN 16:00 DH Lawrence - Daughters of the Vicar (b0075s4x)
Louisa and Mary, daughters of the impoverished vicar of Aldecross, see only marriage as a means of escape from their routine lives.
The arrival of a new young curate fills them with anticipation, but will his intellectual qualities match up to the more physical attractions of Alfred Durant, the son of a local miner?
DH Lawrence's novella, written at around the same time as Sons and Lovers, is a classic tale of the struggle between emotion and intellect.
Louisa ...... Rachel Atkins
Mary ...... Cathy Sara
Mrs Lindley ...... Gillian Goodman
Mr Lindley ...... David Timson
Mr Massey ...... Robert Pickavance
Alfred Durant ...... Peter Meakin
Mrs Durant ...... Ann Rye
Miner ...... Sean Connolly
Dramatised by Jane Beeson.
Director: Peter Leslie Wild.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2000
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (m000cq5b)
Soul Music - In The Bleak Midwinter
Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive and makes a seasonal choice: Soul Music – In the Bleak Midwinter.
Originally a poem by Christina Rossetti. this carol came into being when Vaughan Williams asked Holst to set the words to music for the English Hymnal. Peggy Reynolds, Ian Bradley and Raymond Head tell the story of a Christmas favourite.
The reader is Cathryn Bradshaw.
Producer: Sara Conkey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
SUN 17:30 Guilt Trip (b07mxt9d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 18:00 MR James (b007jtk7)
The Hex
Embroiled in a public controversy with a black magic charlatan called Gardini, Montague receives an unexpected apology from the man - an apology which masks a strange and inexorable curse: Montague has been hexed.
A play by Gregory Evans based on MR James's short story, The Casting of the Runes.
Staring Conrad Phillips and Peter Copley.
Montague ...... Conrad Phillips
Rhodes ...... Peter Copley
Laura ...... Carole Boyer
Elspeth ...... Kim Hartman
Gardini ...... Edward Atienza
Other parts played by Tim Bannerman and Edward Atienza
Producer: Brian Miller.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Theatre in January 1981.
SUN 19:00 The Moth Radio Hour (b09lsq7q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 19:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00yjtg4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:50 today]
SUN 20:00 Last Christmas (Omnibus) (m000cq53)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SUN 21:10 The Listening Project (b05xgkxg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]
SUN 21:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m000cq55)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:15 today]
SUN 22:00 Guilt Trip (b07mxt9d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 22:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b06pbwzh)
Series 3
Broadband on the Run
Tom and his Dad fret about some potentially uncomfortable brushes with the law while Mum prepares for the arrival of a new lodger.
Series 3 of the sitcom where Tom Wrigglesworth phones home for his weekly check-in with his Mum, Dad and Gran, giving listeners a glimpse into his family background and the influences that have shaped his temperament, opinions and hang-ups.
Tom ...... Tom Wrigglesworth
Granny ...... Judy Parfitt
Dad ...... Paul Copley
Mum ...... Kate Anthony
With Elizabeth Bennett and Chris Pavlo.
Written by Tom Wrigglesworth and James Kettle. With Miles Jupp.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Radio Comedy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in November 2015.
.
SUN 22:55 Comedy Club Extra (m000dgnr)
Review of the Decade
Comedy Club Review of the Decade 1/2
Jake Yapp and Jon Holmes are joined by Angela Barnes, Paul Garner, Jessica Fostekew and Arthur Smith for a look back at the 2010s.
SUN 23:00 2000 Years of Radio (b007jnh4)
Series 1
Mad - Georgian Radio
Full Age of Enlightenment updates, plus the Earl of Sandwich lives up to his name. Stars Marcus Brigstocke. From November 2000.
SUN 23:15 Poets' Tree (b00shngl)
Episode 1
The first of Poet Paul Hamilton's poetry magazine programmes.
Paul hears some classic poetry from Derek Harricot, and inspires an unusual person to try poetry for the very first time.
Poetry spoof by Kevin Eldon and Stewart Lee.
With Olivia Colman and Peter Serafinowicz.
Producer: Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008.
SUN 23:30 As Told To Craig Brown (b00b7qs7)
Episode 1
Craig Brown introduces a mixture of satire, social observation and nonsense.
Narrated by Juliet Stevenson and Steve Wright.
With John Humphrys, Ronni Ancona, Jon Culshaw, Lewis MacLeod, Ewan Bailey and Margaret Cabourn-Smith.
Producer: Victoria Lloyd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008.


MONDAY 30 DECEMBER 2019

MON 00:00 MR James (b007jtk7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 Jane Austen (b0868bq6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:15 Shorts (b06tvwv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 The Secret Commonwealth (Omnibus) (m000cq57)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:45 Travels with Bob (b086kwkr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 DH Lawrence - Daughters of the Vicar (b0075s4x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (m000cq5b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Guilt Trip (b07mxt9d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxfw)
One, Two Buckle My Shoe
Episode 1
The terrified Belgian detective pays a visit to his dentist. But he can hardly anticipate the gruesome events to follow ...
Agatha Christie's whodunit stars John Moffatt as Hercule Poirot.
From the book published in 1940 and dramatised by Michael Bakewell
Hercule Poirot ...... John Moffatt
Alfred ...... Tom George
Morley ...... Matthew Devereaux
Miss Sainsbury Seale ...... Joanna McCallum
Chief Inspector Japp ...... Philip Jackson
Georgina Morley ...... Caroline Wildi
Gladys Nevill ...... Sophie Arnold
Reilly ...... Stephen Tomkinson
Alistair Blunt ...... Philip Franks
Jane Olivera ...... Amanda Waring
Original music composed by Tom Smail.
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2004.
MON 06:30 Mr Pollock's Theatres (b0076dzn)
"Penny plain and twopence coloured...."
A phrase familiar to generations of pre-TV children that describes the toy theatres of Benjamin Pollock, a printer from Hoxton in London.
Simon Callow explores the magic world of the cardboard actor, which tells us so much about the real theatre of the 19th century.
Producer: Merilyn Harris
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2003.
MON 07:00 Arrested Development (b0075vmg)
Episode 2
Jilted by Dave on her wedding day, can Penny's sister Kate help her come to terms with it?
Simon Warne's four-part comedy serial.
Penny ...... Letitia Dean
Bob ...... Phil Cornwell
Andy ...... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Joy ...... Maggie McCarthy
Kate ...... Susannah Doyle
Frank ...... Roger Walker
Ken ...... Andrew Wincott
Producer: Tracey Neale
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2000.
MON 07:30 The Museum of Curiosity (m000ckw7)
Christmas Special
The Museum of Curiosity is a Rose d’Or winning panel show in its fourteenth series hosted by John Lloyd (Blackadder, Spitting Image, Not The Nine O’Clock News, QI). Each series is ‘curated’ by a different comedian – the Museum’s current curator is Bridget Christie (A Bic For Her, Netflix's Stand Up for Her and the Rose d'Or winning Bridget Christie Minds The Gap).
Last Christmas the Museum reunited four of its previous curators (Sally Phillips, Lee Mack, Jimmy Carr and Jo Brand) for its first Christmas special. This year John and Bridget return with a special extended edition featuring music producer Glyn Johns, comedian Shazia Mirza and novelist JK Rowling.
Glyn Johns is a music producer who has worked with The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Eagles, Bob Dylan, Joan Armatrading and Eric Clapton to name but a few.
Shazia Mirza is a multi-award-winning comedian who is currently touring her latest show Coconut which talks about her experiences fending for herself (and her fellow islanders) on Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls. She won ‘Columnist of the Year’ for her writing in The New Statesman.
JK Rowling is the best selling author behind the Harry Potter phenomenon. The books have won multiple awards, sold over 500 million copies and been translated into over 80 languages. She also founded children’s charity Lumos, was made an OBE in 2001 and has a gold Blue Peter badge.
In each episode of The Museum of Curiosity the panel are asked to donate an exhibit to the Museum’s growing collection. In this special extended episode Glyn Johns choses a 3M M23 8 Track tape machine featuring a recording of Something by George Harrison. Shazia Mirza donates real eyebrows which she fears are going extinct and reveals her plans for ‘eyebrow donation cards’. JK Rowling donates inspiration as she often gets asked where she gets hers from and she suggests the Museum could sell it in the gift shop.
The Museum’s exhibits were catalogued by Mike Shephard, Mike Turner and Emily Jupitus of QI.
The Producers were Anne Miller and Victoria Lloyd.
MON 08:00 The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket (b00s6rcl)
Series 1
The Cruise - 1/2
The dear ladies attempt to fly off to entertain the passengers on a Mediterranean cruise liner...
Starring Dame Hilda Bracket and her lifelong companion Dr Evadne Hinge.
The dear ladies reside in the Suffolk village of Stackton Tressel. This was the genteel setting for three Radio 4 series between 1977 and 1979, with further spin-off seasons on Radio 2 until 1990. In the early 1980s, they expanded over to BBC TV with the series Dear Ladies.
Dame Hilda Bracket ...... George Logan
Dr Evadne Hinge ...... Patrick Fyffe
Brigadier Roland Baines ...... Michael Bates
Captain Frobisher ...... Donald Hewlett
Scripted by Mike Craig, Lawrie Kinsley and Ron McDonnell.
Produced at BBC Manchester by James Casey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1977.
MON 08:30 Dad's Army (b007jpvh)
Series 3
Keep Young and Beautiful
New War Office policy sparks drastic action amongst the platoon's old guard.
Adapted for radio from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's TV scripts by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles.
Captain Mainwaring …. Arthur Lowe
Sergeant Wilson …. John Le Mesurier
Corporal Jones …. Clive Dunn
Private Frazer …. John Laurie
Private Pike …. Ian Lavender
Private Godfrey …. Arnold Ridley
Private Walker …. Larry Martyn
Wig Maker …. Michael Burlington
Additional music by Dennis Gomm.
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1976.
MON 09:00 Just a Minute (b01m5hk3)
Series 64
Episode 4
Nicholas Parsons challenges Tim Vine, Jason Byrne, Gyles Brandreth and Paul Merton to speak for 60 seconds. From 2012.
MON 09:30 Semi Circles (b007jtsz)
Series 2
A Family Time
Ben and Helen squabble over them spending Christmas with her mother.
The improving story of life and improving times in an improving neighbourhood.
Starring Paula Wilcox as Helen and David Wood as Ben
Written by Simon Brett
Helen ...... Paula Wilcox
Ben ...... David Wood
Mrs Kelly ...... Pay Heywood
Alastair ...... Tony Millan
Mr Cullingford ...... Michael Bilton
Producer: Pete Atkin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1982
MON 10:00 Charles Dickens (b01b20s5)
Little Dorrit
Episode 1
Arthur Clennam returns from China, fearful of a wrong committed by his parents. Curious and feeling protective when he meets young seamstress, Amy Dorrit - he follows her home, to the Marshalsea Debtor's Prison, where he's introduced to her extraordinary family.
Charles Dickens's masterpiece of social satire and imprisonment dramatised in five episodes by Doug Lucie.
Starring Sir Ian McKellen as Charles Dickens.
Recorded on location in London.
Charles Dickens ...... Ian McKellen
Arthur Clennam ...... Julian Wadham
Mrs Clennam ...... Margaret Tyzack
William Dorrit ...... John Wood
Little Dorrit ...... Jasmine Hyde
Flora Finching ...... Sophie Thompson
Fanny Dorrit ...... Indira Varma
Frederick Dorrit ...... Peter Tuddenham
Affery ...... Jennie Stoller
Barnacle Junior ...... Kenny Blyth
Maggy ...... Helen Ayres
Pancks ...... Philip Joseph
Flintwinch ...... Ioan Meredith
Tite Barnacle ...... Gordon Reid
Plornish ...... Jonathan Keeble
Music by Mia Soteriou
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2001.
MON 11:00 TED Radio Hour (m000cmxn)
Turning Kids Into Grown-Ups
Host Guy Raz explores the sometimes fraught world of parenting. Despite our best efforts, are we still doing it wrong?
Parenting is fraught with uncertainty, changing with each generation. TED speakers share ideas about raising kids and how — despite our best efforts — we're probably still doing it wrong.
A journey through fascinating ideas based on talks by riveting speakers on the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) stage.
First broadcast in the USA on National Public Radio in 2018.
MON 11:50 Inheritance Tracks (b087l4d8)
Johnny Marr
Guitarist Johnny Marr chooses 'Walk Right Back' by the Everly Brothers and 'Slow Emotion Replay' by The The. From December 2016.
MON 12:00 The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket (b00s6rcl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Dad's Army (b007jpvh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxfw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 Mr Pollock's Theatres (b0076dzn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06bncyg)
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay
Episode 1
‘Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay’, the new novel from bestselling author William Boyd, follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the twentieth century.
In 1915, Amory’s uncle unknowingly sets her life on its course when he gives her a Kodak Brownie No. 2 as a present for her seventh birthday, igniting a lifelong passion for photography. Her camera will take her from high society London in the 1920s to the cabaret clubs and brothels of inter-war Berlin; to 1930s New York, the Blackshirt riots in London’s East End, and to France and Germany during the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers.
She eventually comes to rest on a remote Scottish island, where she drinks, writes and looks back on a personal life that has been just as rich and complex as her professional one. She remembers the men that have been closest to her – her father, her brother, her lovers – irreparably scarred by two world wars, and reflects upon her own experiences of conflict and loss, passion and joy.
William Boyd is the author of fourteen novels including A Good Man in Africa, An Ice-Cream War, Any Human Heart, Restless, Ordinary Thunderstorms, Waiting for Sunrise and Solo. He lives in London and South West France.
Read by Barbara Flynn
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Mair Bosworth
MON 14:15 The Hidden Henry (b00kj039)
Henry, Medicine and Health
The first of five programmes marking the 500th anniversary next month of the coronation of Henry VIII that exoplore lesser known aspect of the man. Henry was a hypochondriac before the word was invented, with some good reason. He was, though, the first monarch to recognise the need for a qualified medical profession. He gave the first royal charter to the Barber Surgeons and ordered an astronomical clock for Hampton Court so that he could measure his well-being by the stars. The historian Dr Elizabeth Hurren explores parts of the palace that reveal his preoccupation with health - his own and the public's - the herb garden, the astronomical clock and an area even the king could not enter, the birthing suite where his pregnant wives were confined. She considers, too, the famous after Holbein portrait of the king which protrays a man in the peak of health and at the height of his powers, but, reveals too some of the health troubles that were to plague him.
MON 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b085t3f6)
Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey
Episode 6
Henry Tilney enraptures Catherine with his tall tales of the gothic mysteries of his home Northanger Abbey but it's not long before Catherine begins to suspect there may be an element of truth in them.
Jane Austen's satire pokes fun at the popular sensationalist fiction of the day.
Catherine ..... Georgia Groome
John ..... Stephen Wight
Isabella ..... Ainsley Howard
Mrs Allen ..... Tracey Wiles
Mr Allen ..... Kim Wall
Henry ..... Luke Thompson
James ..... Finlay Robertson
The Book ..... Miriam Margolyes
Directed by Sally Avens
Jane Austen
Dramatised by Hattie Naylor
MON 14:45 Book of the Week (b04vk6kt)
Ian Bostridge - Schubert's Winter Journey
Episode 1
Award-winning tenor Ian Bostridge explores Franz Schubert's enigmatic masterpiece Winterreise, or Winter's Journey. Composed in 1827, this powerful song-cycle for voice and piano uses twenty-four poems by Wilhem Muller and is considered one of classical music's most powerful compositions.
Drawing upon his experience as a performer (he has performed Winterreise more than a hundred times), on his musical knowledge and on his training as a scholar, Bostridge unpicks the enigmas and subtle meanings behind the songs to explore the world Schubert inhabited.
Ian Bostridge is recognised as one of the greatest Lieder interpreters today. He has made numerous award-winning recordings of opera and song, and gives recitals throughout Europe, North America and the Far East. He was the original Caliban in Thomas Ades's The Tempest, and played Aschenbach in the landmark 2007 production of Britten's Death in Venice at ENO. He will be Humanitas Professor of Classical Music at the University of Oxford in 2014-15.
Read by Ian Bostridge
Written by Ian Bostridge
Abridged by Laurence Wareing
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
MON 15:00 Charles Dickens (b01b20s5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 Just a Minute (b01m5hk3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 Semi Circles (b007jtsz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Arrested Development (b0075vmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 The Museum of Curiosity (m000ckw7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 Doctor Who (b08f167c)
Serpent Crest
Aladdin Time, part 2/2
100,000 years in the future - the Skishtari Egg exerts control over Andrew, allowing him to unleash a devastating creature from within.
Tom Baker stars as the Fourth Doctor.
Continuing Paul Magrs’ five-story adventure.
The Doctor ...... Tom Baker
Mrs Wibbsey ...... Susan Jameson
Andrew ...... Guy Harvey
The Storyteller ...... Sophie Ward
Scarf ...... Andrew Sachs
Producer: Kate Thomas
Made by BBC Audio and reversioned for broadcast by BBC Radio 4 Extra.
MON 18:45 Roger Dodsworth: The Re-animated Englishman (b07xslng)
It’s 1826 and London is agog with news of a man who has been de-frozen after 170 years in Ice.
Mary Shelley - the author of Frankenstein - speculates on what changes the defrosted Mr Dodsworth must be finding in the world since his sleep began back in Cromwell's time.
Read by Catherine Dolan.
Producer: John Cardy
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in June 1982.
MON 19:00 The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket (b00s6rcl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Dad's Army (b007jpvh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxfw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 Mr Pollock's Theatres (b0076dzn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 TED Radio Hour (m000cmxn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:50 Inheritance Tracks (b087l4d8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:50 today]
MON 22:00 The Museum of Curiosity (m000ckw7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 On the Hour (b007jmkm)
Series 2
Episode 1
Pre-natal beauty therapy, DNA shocker – and a special report on sumo wrestlers.
All the news as it happens, if it happens from the BBC's urgent and incisive news overview.
Plus all the sport from Alan Partridge.
Savagely satirical award-winning comedy starring Chris Morris.
With Steve Coogan, David Schneider, Rebecca Front, Patrick Marber and Doon Mackichan.
Written by Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci, Richard Herring, Steven Wells, Patrick Marber, Andrew Glover and Stewart Lee.
Producer: Armando lannucci
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1992.
MON 22:55 Comedy Club Extra (m000djxc)
Review of the Decade
Comedy Club Review of the Decade 2/2
Jake Yapp and Jon Holmes are joined by Sarah Campbell, Rob Deering, Laura Lexx and Arthur Smith for a look back at the 2010s.
MON 23:00 Dead Ringers (m000cmxr)
Christmas Specials 2019
Episode 3
A special show looking back at the highs and lows of the decade and the unforgettable characters that populated it. From the emergence of Jacob Rees Mogg to the disappearance of Theresa May. Starring Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis McLeod, Duncan Wisbey and Deborah Stevenson.
The writing team for the series: Tom Jamieson & Nev Fountain, Laurence Howarth, Sarah Campbell, Ed Amsden & Tom Coles, James Bugg, Sara Gibbs, Simon Alcock, Alex Hardy and others.
Producer: Bill Dare
A BBC Studios Production
MON 23:30 Hamish and Dougal: You'll Have Had Your Tea (b008kl37)
Hogmanay Special
Hamish and Dougal find themselves celebrating Hogmanay with a busload of celebrities after they get stuck in a snowdrift on its way to the BBC's Hogmanay Cavalcade in Edinburgh.
Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden star as the two elderly Scotsmen famed for their appearances on BBC Radio’s I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
Mrs Naughtie ...... Alison Steadman
The Laird ...... Jeremy Hardy
Humphrey Lyttelton ...... Butler
Tim Brooke-Taylor ...... Himself
Sandi Wedge ...... Sandi Toksvig
James ...... James Naughtie
Pianist Colin Sell
Producer: Jon Naismith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2004.


TUESDAY 31 DECEMBER 2019

TUE 00:00 Doctor Who (b08f167c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:45 Roger Dodsworth: The Re-animated Englishman (b07xslng)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxfw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 Mr Pollock's Theatres (b0076dzn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b06bncyg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 The Hidden Henry (b00kj039)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b085t3f6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Book of the Week (b04vk6kt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Charles Dickens (b01b20s5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Just a Minute (b01m5hk3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 Semi Circles (b007jtsz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Arrested Development (b0075vmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 The Museum of Curiosity (m000ckw7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxg0)
One, Two Buckle My Shoe
Episode 2
Poirot’s dentist has been found shot dead in his surgery. Chief Inspector Japp reckons there are several very plausible suspects...
Agatha Christie's whodunit stars John Moffatt as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.
From the book published in 1940 and dramatised by Michael Bakewell
Hercule Poirot ...... John Moffatt
Chief Inspector Japp ...... Philip Jackson
Gladys Nevill ...... Sophie Arnold
Alistair Blunt ...... Philip Franks
Jane Olivera ...... Amanda Waring
Mr Barnes ...... Patrick Godfrey
Howard Raikes ...... Robert Portal
Frank Carter ...... Dominic Colchester
Original music composed by Tom Smail.
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2004.
TUE 06:30 When Harry Met Sooty (b00759y9)
Comedian Jack Dee presents the rags-to-riches story of Britain's most famous glove puppet, created by Harry Corbett.
Featuring Harry’s wife Muriel and his brother Les.
With Sara Parker.
Producer: Sukey Firth
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1998.
TUE 07:00 A Month of June (b01jrj83)
Lost and Found
Retired politician Kate Whittington has agreed to take part in TV reality show Lolly in the Loft.
Written by Andy Merriman and Alison Joseph.
Series of comedies written for the many voices of legendary actor June Whitfield.
Kate ..... June Whitfield
Virginia ..... Marcia Warren
Sam ..... Ella Smith
Danny ..... Joe Sims
Joel ..... Don Gilet
Terence ..... Robert Blythe
Director: David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2012
TUE 07:30 The Tim Vine Chat Show (m000cms9)
Christmas Special 2019
Christmas jokes and songs from the Punslinger extraordinaire as he invites the Great British Public to tell him some Christmas stories.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production
TUE 08:00 The Goon Show (b007k4l1)
Lurgi Strikes Britain
Doctor Seagoon is dispatched to tackle a curious contagious epidemic disease.
Groundbreaking, surreal BBC radio comedy written by Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes.
Starring:
Peter Sellers
Harry Secombe
Spike Milligan
First billed as Crazy People, ten series of The Goon Show were recorded between 1951 and 1960, but sadly many of the earliest shows weren’t kept in the archive.
With the Ray Ellington Quartet and Max Geldray.
Orchestra conducted by Wally Stott.
Announcer: Wallace Greenslade
Producer: Peter Eton
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in November 1954.
TUE 08:30 Round the Horne (b00lysh3)
Series 3
Episode 7
Kenneth Horne sets sail in seafaring romp 'The Admirable Loom Bucket and Rambling Syd Rumpo sings his Song Of The Hobo. Are Charles and Fiona home at last? and Bona Caterers Julian and Sandy are planning a 'do'.
With Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee.
Recorded at the BBC's Paris Studio in Lower Regent Street, London. Announcer: Douglas Smith
Round The Horne was born out of the demise of BBC radio comedy Beyond Our Ken, after the end of writer Eric Merriman's involvement. Using the same cast and producer, Barry Took and Marty Feldman were persuaded to write the scripts - which led to four series that ran between 1965 and 1968 - packed full of parodies, recurring characters, catchphrases and double-entendres.
Music by Edwin Braden and the Hornblowers and The Fraser Hayes Four.
Producer: John Simmonds
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in March 1967.
TUE 09:00 Dead Ringers (m000cmxr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:30 Stilgoe's Around (b007k4ks)
Royal Agricultural Show, Stoneleigh
How do sheep sleep? Can Ambridge survive Higgs's first words? Is it safe to shake hands with Christopher Timothy?
Ricahrd Stilgoe is at the Royal Agricultural Show in Stoneleigh, revealing the secrets of farmyard life.
Songs, poems, stories and music by Charles Colingwood, Belinda Lang, Peter Blake, Francesca Brill and Kathryn Tickell.
Written by Richard Stilgoe.
Producer: Neil Cargill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1989.
TUE 10:00 Charles Dickens (b01b2wb5)
Little Dorrit
Episode 2
Arthur Clennam still believes his parents to have wronged someone, but he can't get any help from the Circumlocution Office.
He also thinks he’s found a new love, and Little Dorrit receives a proposal.
Charles Dickens's masterpiece of social satire and imprisonment dramatised by Doug Lucie.
Starring Sir Ian McKellen as Charles Dickens.
Recorded on location in London.
Charles Dickens ...... Ian McKellen
Arthur Clennam ...... Julian Wadham
Mrs Clennam ...... Margaret Tyzack
William Dorrit ...... John Wood
Little Dorrit ...... Jasmine Hyde
Mrs Merdle ...... Jennie Stoller
Fanny Dorrit ...... Indira Varma
Flora Finching ...... Sophie Thompson
Frederick Dorrit ...... Peter Tuddenham
Pet Meagles ...... Clare Corbett
John Chivery ...... Ben Crowe
Tip Dorritt ...... Kenny Blyth
Maggy ...... Helen Ayres
Flintwinch ...... Ioan Meredith
Mr Meagles ...... Gordon Reid
Mr Doyce ...... Jonathan Keeble
Other parts played by members of the cast.
Music by Mia Soteriou
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2001.
TUE 11:00 Telling Tales (m000cq7p)
2019 in Books
On New Year’s Eve, we look back at some of the interesting books and stories from the year, with the help of Joe Haddow.
Joe hosts the Book Off podcast and has led the Radio 2 Book Club since it launched in 2010. Earlier this year, he hosted the Booker Prize podcast, interviewing the judges, authors and award winner Bernardine Evaristo.
The rapid rundown of the year features an interview with Caroline Criado Perez, whose assiduous research for her book, Invisible Women: Data Bias In A World Designed for Men, has been recognised with a Royal Society Book Prize and book of the year at the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards.
Liz Hyder talks about her debut novel which has been selected as The Times’ Children’s Book of the Year 2019.
Kemi Alemoru talks about gal-dem’s young adult anthology, I Will Not Be Erased, a collection of stories in which writers of colour address their teenage selves.
We also meet newcomer Ronan Hession who sent Leonard and Hungry Paul into the world, and found a very warm welcome for his characters and story of kindness.
The other books discussed are:
Bernardine Evaristo - Girl, Woman, Other
Margaret Atwood - The Testaments
Lucy Ellman - Ducks, Newburyport
David Nicholls - Sweet Sorrow
Philip Pullman - The Secret Commonwealth
Angie Thomas - On The Come Up
Juno Dawson - Meat Market
Holly Bourne - The Places I've Cried In Public
Kit De Waal - Becoming Dinah
Kiran Millwood Hargrave - The Deathless Girls
Madeline Miller - Circe
Natalie Haynes - A Thousand Ships
Claire Adam - Golden Child
Elizabeth Macneal - The Doll Factory
Candice Carty-Williams - Queenie
Lemn Sissay - My Name Is Why
Elton John - Me
Brett Anderson - Afternoons With The Blinds Drawn
Made for Radio 4 Extra.
TUE 12:00 The Goon Show (b007k4l1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 Round the Horne (b00lysh3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxg0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 When Harry Met Sooty (b00759y9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06bnqt6)
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay
Episode 2
‘Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay’, the new novel from bestselling author William Boyd, follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the twentieth century.
In 1915, Amory’s uncle unknowingly sets her life on its course when he gives her a Kodak Brownie No. 2 as a present for her seventh birthday, igniting a lifelong passion for photography. Her camera will take her from high society London in the 1920s to the cabaret clubs and brothels of inter-war Berlin; to 1930s New York, the Blackshirt riots in London’s East End, and to France and Germany during the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers.
She eventually comes to rest on a remote Scottish island, where she drinks, writes and looks back on a personal life that has been just as rich and complex as her professional one. She remembers the men that have been closest to her – her father, her brother, her lovers – irreparably scarred by two world wars, and reflects upon her own experiences of conflict and loss, passion and joy.
William Boyd is the author of fourteen novels including A Good Man in Africa, An Ice-Cream War, Any Human Heart, Restless, Ordinary Thunderstorms, Waiting for Sunrise and Solo. He lives in London and South West France.
Read by Barbara Flynn
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Mair Bosworth
TUE 14:15 The Hidden Henry (b00kntht)
Henry The Scholar
At the British Library Steven Gunn and Andre Clarke pore over his books, maps and letters which reveal a man of keen, curious and disputatious intellect.
The second of five programmes marking the 500th anniversary of the coronation of Henry VIII. Speaking fluent Latin and the author of four books, Henry wasn't a boorish, uncultured tyrant. He was one of the most educated of our monarchs, a Renaissance Man. The historian Dr Steven Gunn from Merton College, Oxford and Dr Andrea Clarke, Curator of the 'Henry VIII: Man and Monarch ' exhibition at the British Library, present us with the unexpectedly studious side of Henry. There is in his psalter, a portrait of him reading, and the young Henry was well versed in poetry, music and religious discourse. He was keen to be seen as a philosopher king, and the notes in the margins of his books reveal how closely he read, and his intellectual striving. His love letters to Anne Boleyn, show a man with a vast vocabulary and a keen sense of amour courtois. We hear too from Prof James Carley, who has catalogued Henry VIII's books - and he had several thousand. And it was his collection of books which is at the centre of what became the British Library.
TUE 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b085tqk0)
Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey
Episode 7
Catherine is a guest of the Tilney's at Northanger Abbey. But the General's behaviour begins to arouse her suspicions; could he have committed a monstrous act?
Jane Austen's satire pokes fun at the Gothic Novel with comic results.
Catherine ..... Georgia Groome
Henry ..... Luke Thompson
Eleanor ..... Natasha Cowley
General Tilney ..... John Dougall
The Book ..... Miriam Margolyes
Directed by Sally Avens
By Jane Austen
Dramatised by Hattie Naylor
TUE 14:45 Book of the Week (b04vkhlb)
Ian Bostridge - Schubert's Winter Journey
Episode 2
Internationally acclaimed tenor Ian Bostridge examines one of the most powerful compositions in classical music: Schubert's song-cycle Winterreise (Winter's Journey).
In this episode, which explores the political context of the piece, he focuses on song five "Der Lindenbaum" (The Linden Tree) and song ten "Rast" (Rest)
Ian Bostridge is recognised as one of the greatest Lieder interpreters today. He has made numerous award-winning recordings of opera and song, and gives recitals throughout Europe, North America and the Far East. He was the original Caliban in Thomas Ades's The Tempest, and played Aschenbach in the landmark 2007 production of Britten's Death in Venice at ENO. He will be Humanitas Professor of Classical Music at the University of Oxford in 2014-15.
Written and read by Ian Bostridge
Abridged by Laurence Wareing
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
TUE 15:00 Charles Dickens (b01b2wb5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 Jest a Minute (b012h804)
Series 1
Episode 1
Justin Moorhouse, Jarred Christmas, Chris Corcoran and Jeremy Hardy star in Rhod Gilbert's comedy quiz. From August 2006.
TUE 16:30 Kalangadog Junction (b09g8kzt)
Episode 6
Will Jane be able to refuse a new proposal? Will Gaelene's gold medal dreams come true?
Conclusion of the six-part comedy drama series by Moya O'Shea.
Starring Caroline Quentin as Jane, John Duttine as Thomas, Niall Ashdown as Jimmy, Toby Longworth as Pete, Brian Bowles as Len, Joanna Monro as Madge, Julie Gibbs as Milly, June Whitfield as Phoebe and Moya O'Shea as Gaylene.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
TUE 17:00 A Month of June (b01jrj83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 The Tim Vine Chat Show (m000cms9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Doctor Who (b08f4sjx)
Serpent Crest
Hexford Invasion, part 1/2
The Fourth Doctor is reunited with his TARDIS. But Mike Yates turns up with someone claiming to be the Second Doctor...
Tom Baker stars as the Fourth Doctor.
Continuing Paul Magrs’ five-story adventure,
The Doctor ...... Tom Baker
Mrs Wibbsey ...... Susan Jameson
Mike Yates ...... Richard Franklin
Deirdre ...... Nerys Hughes
Tish ...... Joanna Tope
Reverend Tongue ...... Cornelius Garrett
The Visitor ...... David Troughton
Producer: Kate Thomas
Made by BBC Audio and reversioned for broadcast by BBC Radio 4 Extra.
TUE 18:30 Pioneers (b00x92tm)
Series 1
Sir Alec Jeffreys
Sir Alec Jeffreys speaks to Clare English about his eureka moment when he discovered DNA fingerprinting.
It was 9.05am on Monday 10th September 1984 when Alec realised the enormity of his breakthrough, and explains how it turned into a global phenomenon.
He speaks about how his techniques for DNA fingerprinting and DNA profiling are now not only used by the police, but also to resolve paternity and immigration disputes all over the world.
Produced by Philip Sime
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
TUE 19:00 The Goon Show (b007k4l1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 Round the Horne (b00lysh3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxg0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 When Harry Met Sooty (b00759y9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Telling Tales (m000cq7p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The Tim Vine Chat Show (m000cms9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 Armstrong and Miller (b007k3f2)
Episode 4
School band memories, and a town planning thriller.
Sketches and songs with Ben Miller and Alexander Armstrong in their first series for radio.
With Samuel West and Tony Gardiner.
Written by Ben Miller and Alexander Armstrong.
Producer: Gareth Edwards
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1998.
TUE 22:45 Creme de la Crime (b008756y)
Series 3
The Quiller Killer
TV detective Michael Feydeau ponders the murder of Christopher Marlowe. Stars Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. From April 2003.
TUE 23:00 Vent (b01dw7cx)
Series 3
Loneliness Is a Crowded Head
Comedy series by Nigel Smith about a man in a coma, travelling through the distinctly odd landscape of his own unconscious mind.
Ben's life is full of well-meaning people trying to do everything for him. Everything, that is, except leave him alone. He begins to wonder if Robinson Crusoe might have been on to a good thing.
Ben ...... Neil Pearson
Mary ...... Fiona Allen
Mum ...... Josie Lawrence
Blitz ...... Leslie Ash
Nurse ...... Jo Martin
Derek ...... Stephen Frost
Marley ...... Spencer Brown
Bea ...... Scarlett Milburn-Smith
Castaway ...... John Kay-Steel
Waiter ...... Bruce Alexander
Directed by Nigel Smith.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2009.
TUE 23:30 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b03mg0cs)
New Year
Comedian Alex Horne is joined by his 5 piece band to kick off the New Year's Eve celebrations with comedy and original live music.
His New Year guests are comedian Milton Jones, vocal gymnast Beardyman and singer and comedian Jenny Bede.
Producer: Julia Mckenzie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.


WEDNESDAY 01 JANUARY 2020

WED 00:00 Doctor Who (b08f4sjx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Pioneers (b00x92tm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxg0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 When Harry Met Sooty (b00759y9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b06bnqt6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 The Hidden Henry (b00kntht)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b085tqk0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Book of the Week (b04vkhlb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Charles Dickens (b01b2wb5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Jest a Minute (b012h804)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Kalangadog Junction (b09g8kzt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 A Month of June (b01jrj83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 The Tim Vine Chat Show (m000cms9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxg5)
One, Two Buckle My Shoe
Episode 3
Mystery still surrounds the death of the Belgian detective's dentist. Was it suicide - or murder..?
Agatha Christie's whodunit stars John Moffatt as Hercule Poirot.
From the book published in 1940 and dramatised by Michael Bakewell
Hercule Poirot ...... John Moffatt
Chief Inspector Japp ...... Philip Jackson
Alistair Blunt ...... Philip Franks
Jane Olivera ...... Amanda Waring
Mr Barnes ...... Patrick Godfrey
Georgina Morley ...... Caroline Wildi
Mrs Olivera ...... Joanna McCallum
Selby ...... Trevor Rawlins
Original music composed by Tom Smail.
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2004.
WED 06:30 AL Kennedy: Holding Hands (b04754xq)
There is something uniquely intimate and comforting about holding someone's hand. Perhaps because it's something that begins in childhood - our small hand enveloped in that of other, stronger, larger hands.
We associate it with comfort, concern, care. And then, for a while, we abandon it - not holding your parents' hands is a sign that you have grown up - only to have the joy of rediscovering new shades of meaning in the gesture.
As adults, we may hold hands with our own children. Hand holding may be a part of courtship - it's not as flashy as a kiss, but can be a clear signal to ourselves and others that we are together - it can be a subtle brush or glancing touch, it can be a complex form of foreplay.
We may also have our hands held at times of stress and crisis - sometimes by people we don't even know. And we may hold the hands of the sick and even the dying as they leave us, or after they have gone.
We separate the joyful hand holding from the horrible - hand holding can induce emotions and by contrast, unruly emotions can be the reason to reach for a hand.
Novelist AL Kennedy talks to scientists Professors Roger Lemon and Steve Jones, Rabbi Julia Neuberger, GP Adnan Siddiqui, triple amputee Giles Duly and poet-undertaker Thomas Lynch. She visits Monkey World to find out about hand holding among non-human primates, and we hear from her mum amidst the voices of people remembering holding hands.
Producer: Kate Bland
A Cast Iron production for BBC Radio 4
WED 07:00 Electric Ink (b011kvmn)
Series 1
Episode 3
Editor Oliver wants Terry from Tottenham, as 'street boy' Freddy chases a Treasury scoop. Stars Robert Lindsay. From June 2009.
WED 07:30 The Missing Hancocks (m000cl4l)
Christmas at Aldershot
The Missing Hancocks recreates those episodes of the classic Hancock's Half Hour that have been wiped or lost from the archive.
The first modern sitcom, Hancock's Half Hour made stars of Tony Hancock, Sid James and Kenneth Williams, and launched Ray Galton and Alan Simpson as one of the most successful comedy-writing partnerships in history. But 20 episodes of the show were missing from the BBC archives. Now, after four highly successful series, the final batch of those episodes have been lovingly re-recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC Radio Theatre.
Tonight's episode: Hancock is looking forward to Christmas, but then his call-up papers arrive. And as if that wasn't bad enough, his commanding officer turns out to be one Sidney James.....
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and with the classic score re-recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the show stars Kevin McNally, Kevin Eldon, Simon Greenall, Robin Sebastian and Margaret Cabourn-Smith. Christmas At Aldershot was first broadcast on the 21st December, 1954.
Produced by Neil Pearson & Hayley Sterling.
Written by Ray Galton & Simpson
Music recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Levon Parikian.
A BBC Studios Production.
WED 08:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b00t1bnk)
Series 3
Hancock's Hair
Paranoid over going bald, the lad pays a visit to Maison James
Starring Tony Hancock, Bill Kerr, Sidney James. Andree Melly and Kenneth Williams.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Theme and incidental music composed by Wally Stott. Recorded by the BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.
Producer: Dennis Main Wilson
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in January 1956.
WED 08:30 Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead (b008kmkg)
Series 2
Episode 1
Reshuffling Patron Saints, the art of piano moving and spoofing 'Under Milk Wood'.
A sequential entertainment for radio starring Ronnie Barker.
With Terence Brady and Pauline Yates. Pianist: Gordon Langford.
Written by Miles Kington, Roy Lomax, John Graham, Peter Spence, Chris Miller, Chris Allen, Jim Eldridge, Chris Bell and Laurie Holloway and Peter N Christie
Producer John Fawcett-Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1972.
WED 09:00 The Rest is History (b075mnxs)
Series 2
Episode 1
Frank Skinner loves history, but just doesn't know much of it. So he's devised a comedy discussion show in order to find out more about it.
Along with his historian in residence, Professor Kate Williams, Frank is joined by a selection of celebrity guests who help him navigate his way through the annals of time, picking out and chewing over the funniest, oddest, and most interesting moments in history.
The guests are Katy Brand and Pierre Novellie, who discuss Hodge - the cat belonging to Doctor Samuel Pepys, Nelson and Lady Hamilton, and the Lyme Missal.
Produced by Mark Augustyn and Justin Pollard
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 09:30 An Actor's Life for Me (b008gbwy)
Series 2
Heart Throbs
Robert Wilson lands a romantic lead role, but will it all go to his head? Stars John Gordon Sinclair. From February 1990.
WED 10:00 Charles Dickens (b01b311m)
Little Dorrit
Episode 3
Mr Pancks has made discoveries about the Dorrit family, but Arthur still hasn’t solved his family's secret...
Charles Dickens's masterpiece of social satire and imprisonment dramatised by Doug Lucie.
Starring Sir Ian McKellen as Charles Dickens.
Recorded on location in London.
Charles Dickens ...... Ian McKellen
Arthur Clennam ...... Julian Wadham
Mrs Clennam ...... Margaret Tyzack
William Dorrit ...... John Wood
Little Dorrit ...... Jasmine Hyde
Mrs Merdle ...... Jennie Stoller
Mr Pancks ...... Philp Joseph
Fanny Dorrit ...... Indira Varma
Mr Merdle ...... Kenneth Cranham
Flora Finching ...... Sophie Thompson
Frederick Dorrit ...... Peter Tuddenham
Pet Meagles ...... Clare Corbett
John Chivery ...... Ben Crowe
Tip Dorritt ...... Kenny Blyth
Maggy ...... Helen Ayres
Flintwinch ...... Ioan Meredith
Mr Meagles ...... Gordon Reid
Mr Doyce ...... Jonathan Keeble
Other parts played by members of the cast.
Music by Mia Soteriou
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2001.
WED 11:00 Sue Perkins' Christmas Comedy Stocking (m000cqdb)
3. I'm Sorry I Haven't a Christmas Carol
In the last of three festive fun-packed stockings, Sue Perkins finishes off the leftovers as she rounds off her seasonal selection:
* I'm Sorry I Haven't a Christmas Carol:
Humphrey Lyttelton makes for a convincing scrooge in the all-star Clue cast's unique interpretation of the Charles Dickens classic. Stephen Fry narrates.
With Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer, Sandi Toksvig, Linda Smith, Andy Hamilton, Jeremy Hardy, Tony Hawks and Graeme Garden. From 2003.
Producer: Sarah Wade
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2010.
WED 12:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b00t1bnk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead (b008kmkg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxg5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 AL Kennedy: Holding Hands (b04754xq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06bp5tr)
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay
Episode 3
‘Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay’, the new novel from bestselling author William Boyd, follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the twentieth century.
In 1915, Amory’s uncle unknowingly sets her life on its course when he gives her a Kodak Brownie No. 2 as a present for her seventh birthday, igniting a lifelong passion for photography. Her camera will take her from high society London in the 1920s to the cabaret clubs and brothels of inter-war Berlin; to 1930s New York, the Blackshirt riots in London’s East End, and to France and Germany during the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers.
She eventually comes to rest on a remote Scottish island, where she drinks, writes and looks back on a personal life that has been just as rich and complex as her professional one. She remembers the men that have been closest to her – her father, her brother, her lovers – irreparably scarred by two world wars, and reflects upon her own experiences of conflict and loss, passion and joy.
William Boyd is the author of fourteen novels including A Good Man in Africa, An Ice-Cream War, Any Human Heart, Restless, Ordinary Thunderstorms, Waiting for Sunrise and Solo. He lives in London and South West France.
Read by Barbara Flynn
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Mair Bosworth
WED 14:15 The Hidden Henry (b00knthw)
Henry The Father
In the third of five programmes marking the 500th anniversary of the coronation of Henry VIII, Tudor historian Dr Susan Doran, and Lucy Wooding, author of the most recent biography, consider what is was like to have Henry as your father. Looking at letters, books, gifts and portraits they discuss how he seems to have been closest to his illegitamate son; he humiliated his daughter Mary, and Elizabeth's fear of commitment, even her bearing are due to her contact with him. Henry's children lived in fear of their terrifying father and yet modelled themselves on him.
WED 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b085x6mp)
Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey
Episode 8
Catherine's fears about the terrible deeds that may have taken place at Northanger Abbey are confronted by Henry Tilney.
Jane Austen's satire pokes fun at the popular sensationalist fiction of the day.
Catherine ..... Georgia Groome
Henry ..... Luke Thompson
Eleanor ..... Natasha Cowley
General Tilney ..... John Dougall
James ..... Finlay Robertson
The Book ..... Miriam Margolyes
Directed by Sally Avens
By Jane Austen
Dramatised by Hattie Naylor
WED 14:45 Book of the Week (b04vkc30)
Ian Bostridge - Schubert's Winter Journey
Episode 3
Award-winning tenor Ian Bostridge explores Franz Schubert's masterpiece Winterreise, or Winter's Journey. Drawing upon his experience as a performer (he has performed Winterreise more than a hundred times), on his musical knowledge and on his training as a scholar, Bostridge unpicks the enigmas and subtle meanings behind the songs to explore the world Schubert inhabited.
In this episode, he focuses on three songs: "Einsamkeit" (Loneliness), "Die Post" (The Post) and "Der greise Kopf" (The Old Man's Head).
Written and read by Ian Bostridge
Abridged by Laurence Wareing
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
WED 15:00 Charles Dickens (b01b311m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 The Rest is History (b075mnxs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 An Actor's Life for Me (b008gbwy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 Electric Ink (b011kvmn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 The Missing Hancocks (m000cl4l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Doctor Who (b08f5rfx)
Serpent Crest
Hexford Invasion, part 2/2
An irresistible alien power is intent on moving the hamlet of Hexford in search of something hidden beneath.
Tom Baker stars as the Fourth Doctor.
Continuing Paul Magrs’ five-story adventure,
The Doctor ...... Tom Baker
Mrs Wibbsey ...... Susan Jameson
Mike Yates ...... Richard Franklin
Deirdre ...... Nerys Hughes
Tish ...... Joanna Tope
Reverend Tongue ...... Cornelius Garrett
The Visitor ...... David Troughton
Producer: Kate Thomas
Made by BBC Audio and reversioned for broadcast by BBC Radio 4 Extra.
WED 18:30 The Palace of Laughter (b007w2my)
Series 1
Alhambra
Geoffrey Wheeler traces the history of the music hall which was once the pride of London's Leicester Square. With Roy Hudd. From April 2002.
WED 19:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b00t1bnk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead (b008kmkg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxg5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 AL Kennedy: Holding Hands (b04754xq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Sue Perkins' Christmas Comedy Stocking (m000cqdb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 22:00 The Missing Hancocks (m000cl4l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 The Lawrence Sweeney Mix (b008vbbw)
Series 1
Episode 1
Making it up as they go along. Josie Lawrence and Jim Sweeney's improvised sketches driven by the audience. From February 2007.
WED 22:55 Comedy Club Extra (m000dfyq)
Predictions for 2020
Predictions for 2020 1/2
Jake Yapp and Jon Holmes are joined by Paul Garner, Sarah Campbell, Rob Deering and Jessica Fostekew to look ahead to the coming year.
WED 23:00 Clare in the Community (b00stq0j)
Series 6
In The Dog House
Clare's entranced by a dog following her into work, unlike Brian. But the dog has its uses. With Sally Phillips. From June 2010.
WED 23:30 Absolute Power (b007nf8w)
Series 1
Episode 2
Spin doctors Prentiss and McCabe attempt to relaunch the Sun newspaper. Stars Stephen Fry and John Bird. From January 2000.


THURSDAY 02 JANUARY 2020

THU 00:00 Doctor Who (b08f5rfx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 The Palace of Laughter (b007w2my)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxg5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 AL Kennedy: Holding Hands (b04754xq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b06bp5tr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 The Hidden Henry (b00knthw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b085x6mp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Book of the Week (b04vkc30)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Charles Dickens (b01b311m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 The Rest is History (b075mnxs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 An Actor's Life for Me (b008gbwy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Electric Ink (b011kvmn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 The Missing Hancocks (m000cl4l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxg9)
One, Two Buckle My Shoe
Episode 4
A month after the death of Poirot's dentist, a corpse has been found with its face horribly mutilated - yet another of his patients...
Agatha Christie's whodunit stars John Moffatt as Hercule Poirot.
Dramatised by Michael Bakewell
Hercule Poirot ...... John Moffatt
Chief Inspector Japp ...... Philip Jackson
Alistair Blunt ...... Philip Franks
Jane Olivera ...... Amanda Waring
Helen Montresor ...... Joanna McCallum
Agnes ...... Teresa Gallagher
Howard Raikes ...... Robert Portal
Reilly ...... Stephen Tomkinson
Mrs Adams ...... Amanda Walker
Gladys Nevil ...... Sophie Arnold
Frank Carter ...... Dominic Colchester
Original music composed by Tom Smail.
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2004.
THU 06:30 The British Film Studios - Pinewood (b07x4r4c)
John Huntley traces the history of one of Britain’s most iconic centres of film making. With Norman Wisdom. From 1996.
THU 07:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b06r5xx2)
Series 7
The Leaving of Barra
Stanley Baxter’s first story in his new Playhouse season goes back in time to 1949, when a young man, an assistant director on Whisky Galore, falls in love with a local girl on the Hebridean island of Barra where filming is taking place.
Sixty six years later, his memories of that golden time come flooding back.
Stanley Baxter plays the old man who abandoned a career in film to stay on the island with the woman he loved, and now faces a sad farewell. The other members of the company are June Watson, Scott Hoatson, Samara Maclaren and Tracy Wiles.
Cast:
John Anderson...............Stanley Baxter
Peggy Anderson.............June Watson
Young John /
PC Macrae......................Scott Hoatson
Catriona /
Young Peggy..................Samara Maclaren
Mary...............................Tracy Wiles
Written by Michael Chaplin
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4
THU 07:30 Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice (m000cl9g)
Episode 4
A new series from Tom Allen, star of Mock The Week, Bake Off Extra Slice, The Apprentice: You're Fired and fresh from a sell out solo performance at The London Palladium.
Tom Allen is Actually Not Very Nice explores what happens when Tom's calm and collected exterior collapses. He used to be such a nice boy but what has happened to turn him naughty?
With help from the assembled studio audience, Tom works out how best to navigate some tricky social situations and how to keep a lid on his fury when confronted with life's small injustices.
Featuring Gabby Best.
Photo credit: Edward Moore @edshots
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production
THU 08:00 The Ken Dodd Show (b05qk2kw)
From 13/06/1965
Building a home gym with Andy Mann and tackling the population explosion.
Starring Ken Dodd.
With John Laurie, Patricia Hayes, Judith Chalmers, Wallas Eaton and Percy Edwards.
Music from The Barry Sisters.
Doddy's Diddy Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Lockyer.
Script by Ken Dodd and Eddie Braben.
Producer: Bill Worsley
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in June 1965.
THU 08:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00s3htw)
Series 3
Episode 6
Your chance to take part in an experiment in stereo sound - and meet unsung soccer hero, Angus Prune!
More quick-fire sketches, terrible puns, humorous songs and parodies.
Stars Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Written by Tim Brooke-Taylor, Eric Idle, Clive James, Bernard King and Bill Oddie.
Originating from the Cambridge University Footlights revue 'Cambridge Circus', ISIRTA ran for 8 years on BBC Radio and quickly developed a cult following.
Music and songs by Dave Lee and Bill Oddie.
Producer: Humphrey Barclay
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in April 1966.
THU 09:00 It's Your Round (b00z5zyh)
Series 1
Episode 4
"It's Your Round" is the comedy panel show where the format is simple: there is no format. Instead, each of the panellists has brought along their own round for the others to play, meaning that each show is unique, untried, and unpredictable.
This episode Foster's award winner in Edinburgh this year, Russell Kane, Josie Long, Alun Cochrane and Milton Jones battle it out to see who can beat each other at their own games.
Enjoy the hilarity that ensues when each of them play the games they've brought along. How will the teams fare when they play Russell Kane's "Mood News" round? What superhero would Milton Jones like to be? And what is josie Long's "Nine Previous Convictions" all about? Find out the answers to these questions and more in this show.
Angus Deayton is the host valiantly trying to make sure everyone comes out of it with their reputations intact.
Writers: Angus Deayton and Paul Powell
Devised by Benjamin Partridge
Producer: Sam Michell.
THU 09:30 Change at Oglethorpe (b007k0vl)
Foreign Parts
Winter has come to the Ogle Valley. David is dreaming of sun and sand when an old friend offers him an exciting job. Meanwhile, Arthur dreams of a date with June.
Peter Morfoot's comedy stars Michael Williams as Rocket, Peter Davison as David, Rosemary Martin as June, Phillippa Wilson as Points, Chris Emmett as Sodd, Madge Hindle as Hattie and Peter Silverleaf as Brian.
Producer: Gareth Edwards
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in January 1996.
THU 10:00 Charles Dickens (b01b3clm)
Little Dorrit
Episode 4
The newly wealthy Dorrits set off on a tour of Europe but Little Dorrit is homesick.
Fanny finds a suitor and William is gratified by the attentions of the banker, Mr Merdle.
Charles Dickens's masterpiece of social satire and imprisonment dramatised by Doug Lucie.
Starring Sir Ian McKellen as Charles Dickens.
Recorded on location in London.
Charles Dickens ...... Ian McKellen
Arthur Clennam ...... Julian Wadham
Mrs Clennam ...... Margaret Tyzack
William Dorrit ...... John Wood
Little Dorrit ...... Jasmine Hyde
Mr Merdle ...... Kenneth Cranham
Mrs Merdle ...... Jennie Stoller
Fanny Dorrit ...... Indira Varma
Flora Finching ...... Sophie Thompson
Frederick Dorrit ...... Peter Tuddenham
John Chivery ...... Ben Crowe
Tip Dorritt ...... Kenny Blyth
Flintwinch ...... Ioan Meredith
Mr Pancks ...... Philip Joseph
Mr Doyce ...... Jonathan Keeble
Other parts played by members of the cast.
Music by Mia Soteriou
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2001.
THU 11:00 Michael Carson - Fragile as Milk on a Step (m000cl9j)
Can miracles happen on a New Year’s Day? Read by Louise Jameson.
Written by Michael Carson.
Producer: Pam Fraser Solomon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1998.
THU 11:15 Drama (b06sbrxh)
Lewis Carroll - The Hunting of the Snark
Tony Robinson narrates this fresh adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic masterpiece following a strange assortment of characters on their quest for an elusive beast.
Led by a bell-ringing Captain, this motley crew must brave terrifying danger in their chaotic pursuit of a creature known as Snark. Accompanied by specially composed music and songs, this surreal tale questions whether anything is really what it seems.
Music and songs composed by Katie Chatburn
Music performed by Katie Chatburn, Dorry Macaulay, Kathryn Williams, Stephen Cordiner and Jasper Wilkinson
Director: Charlotte Riches.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2015.
THU 12:00 The Ken Dodd Show (b05qk2kw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00s3htw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxg9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 The British Film Studios - Pinewood (b07x4r4c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06c0dgn)
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay
Episode 4
‘Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay’, the new novel from bestselling author William Boyd, follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the twentieth century.
In 1915, Amory’s uncle unknowingly sets her life on its course when he gives her a Kodak Brownie No. 2 as a present for her seventh birthday, igniting a lifelong passion for photography. Her camera will take her from high society London in the 1920s to the cabaret clubs and brothels of inter-war Berlin; to 1930s New York, the Blackshirt riots in London’s East End, and to France and Germany during the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers.
She eventually comes to rest on a remote Scottish island, where she drinks, writes and looks back on a personal life that has been just as rich and complex as her professional one. She remembers the men that have been closest to her – her father, her brother, her lovers – irreparably scarred by two world wars, and reflects upon her own experiences of conflict and loss, passion and joy.
William Boyd is the author of fourteen novels including A Good Man in Africa, An Ice-Cream War, Any Human Heart, Restless, Ordinary Thunderstorms, Waiting for Sunrise and Solo. He lives in London and South West France.
Read by Barbara Flynn
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Mair Bosworth
THU 14:15 The Hidden Henry (b00knthy)
Henry, The Image-Maker
In the fourth of five programmes marking the coronation of Henry VIII that introduce aspects of his character that are not well-known, Dr Kent Rawlinson, the curator of buildings at Hampton Court, explores the way the buildings, grounds and artefacts express the king's concern with image, the impression he made. For instance, the second most valuable objects now owned by the British Crown are the sumptuous wall hangings he designed himself, to be used when foreign dignitaries arrived. Each displays an aspect of his kingly prowess which he wished to demonstrate. Henry's corporate image was very carefully thought through, the buildings themselves, his art collection (greater than Charles II's) right down to his clothes. They all contributed to the image the young king projected.
THU 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b085xpzh)
Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey
Episode 9
Catherine finds herself abruptly dismissed from Northanger Abbey.
Jane Austen's satire pokes fun at the popular sensationalist fiction of the day.
Catherine ..... Georgia Groome
Isabella ..... Ainsley Howard
Henry ..... Luke Thompson
Isabella ..... Ainsley Howard
General Tilney ..... John Dougall
Mrs Morland ..... Alison Belbin
Mr Morland ..... John Bowler
Harriet..... Keziah Joseph
George ..... Luke MacGregor
The Book ..... Miriam Margolyes
Directed by Sally Avens
By Jane Austen
Dramatised by Hattie Naylor
THU 14:45 Book of the Week (b04vqsh5)
Ian Bostridge - Schubert's Winter Journey
Episode 4
Award-winning tenor Ian Bostridge explores Franz Schubert's song-cycle masterpiece Winterreise, Winter's Journey. Drawing upon his experience as a performer, on his musical knowledge and on his training as a scholar, Bostridge unpicks the enigmas and subtle meanings behind the songs to explore the world Schubert inhabited.
"I'm at an end with all dreams / why should I linger among the sleepers?" In this episode, he looks at the ways in which Schubert used his composition to challenge the social and political order of his day, focusing on two songs: "Im Dorfe" (In The Village) and "Tauschung" (Deception).
Written and read by Ian Bostridge
Abridged by Laurence Wareing
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
THU 15:00 Charles Dickens (b01b3clm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 It's Your Round (b00z5zyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 Change at Oglethorpe (b007k0vl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b06r5xx2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice (m000cl9g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 Doctor Who (b08f5wck)
Serpent Crest
Survivors in Space, part 1/2
Propelled to a barren moon in a strange galaxy, life proves challenging for the residents of the hamlet of Hexford...
Tom Baker stars as the Fourth Doctor.
Continuing Paul Magrs’ five-story adventure,
The Doctor ...... Tom Baker
Mrs Wibbsey ...... Susan Jameson
The Visitor ...... David Troughton
Mike Yates ...... Richard Franklin
Deirdre ...... Nerys Hughes
Tish ...... Joanna Tope
Reverend Tongue ...... Cornelius Garrett
Lucius ...... Sam Hoare
Producer: Kate Thomas
Made by BBC Audio and reversioned for broadcast by BBC Radio 4 Extra.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b007646h)
Series 1
Henri Matisse
Writer Frank Delaney and biographer Hilary Spurling discuss the painter Henri Matisse. With Humphrey Carpenter. From 2001.
The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?
THU 19:00 The Ken Dodd Show (b05qk2kw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00s3htw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxg9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 The British Film Studios - Pinewood (b07x4r4c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Michael Carson - Fragile as Milk on a Step (m000cl9j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
THU 21:15 Drama (b06sbrxh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
THU 22:00 Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice (m000cl9g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 Lewis Macleod Is Not Himself (b04jk3qr)
Episode 3
Impression and sketch show that looks behind the scenes at the life and work of star impressionist Lewis Macleod (Newsjack, Postman Pat, The Phantom Menace, Dead Ringers) with Kate O'Sullivan, Duncan Wisbey and Julian Dutton.
Producer: Lyndsay Fenner.
THU 22:55 Comedy Club Extra (m000djxf)
Predictions for 2020
Episode 2
Jake Yapp and Jon Holmes are joined by Laura Lexx and Angela Barnes to look ahead to the coming year.
THU 23:00 The Hudson and Pepperdine Show (b007621y)
Series 2
Episode 1
Mel Hudson and Vicki Pepperdine stay on air despite interruptions. 'Madonna' and 'Roy Walker' perform a duet. From May 2001.
THU 23:30 Cowards (b00fm5s8)
Series 2
Episode 3
Step inside the strange and happy world of the Cowards.
Series 2 of sketch comedy with a comic slant on human frailties
Starring Tom Basden, Stefan Golaszewski, Tim Key and Lloyd Woolf.
Producer: Victoria Lloyd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2008.


FRIDAY 03 JANUARY 2020

FRI 00:00 Doctor Who (b08f5wck)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b007646h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxg9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 The British Film Studios - Pinewood (b07x4r4c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b06c0dgn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 The Hidden Henry (b00knthy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b085xpzh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Book of the Week (b04vqsh5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Charles Dickens (b01b3clm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 It's Your Round (b00z5zyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 Change at Oglethorpe (b007k0vl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b06r5xx2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice (m000cl9g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxgg)
One, Two Buckle My Shoe
Episode 5
With a killer still at large, the Belgian detective finds inspiration in the words of a psalm sung by the village church choir.
Conclusion of Agatha Christie's whodunit starring John Moffatt as Hercule Poirot.
Dramatised by Michael Bakewell.
Hercule Poirot ...... John Moffatt
Chief Inspector Japp ...... Philip Jackson
Frank Carter ...... Dominic Colchester
Alistair Blunt ...... Philip Franks
Jane Olivera ...... Amanda Waring
Mr Barnes ...... Patrick Godfrey
Howard Raikes ...... Robert Portal
Original music composed by Tom Smail.
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2004.
FRI 06:30 The Shipwrecked Bears (b012r6tt)
Gyles Brandreth investigates the mystery of three thousand missing teddy bears, the first ever made.
Three thousand teddy bears went missing in 1903, supposedly en route for New York from their native Germany. Bear expert and storyteller-par-excellence Gyles Brandreth attempts to discover what really happened to these earliest toy bears.
In 1902 the first ever toy bear was designed in Germany by Richard Steiff: Bär 55 PB, a lifelike bear with joints, a humped back and a snout. A New York toy company placed an order at the Leipzig Toy Fair in 1903 for three thousand of the bears - a novelty - to be ready in time for the Christmas market. The bears were made and packed up for shipment, but there is no record of them reaching their destination and none of this load of US-bound bears has ever been found. The templates, patterns and even photos of this bear exist but not even one sample was kept. One popular explanation is that there was a shipwreck and the bears had a watery end. All that is certain is that if one of these bears turned up now it would be 'open chequebook' time for certain museums and collectors.
Witty, magical and heart-warming, the documentary reveals fascinating detail behind the making of the bears, including a trip to the Steiff factory and a rifle through their detailed archives, as Gyles delights us with this little-known story, and imagines where water-logged bears might have washed up.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2011.
FRI 07:00 1834 (b011vffj)
London
Trapped in 19th-century Macclesfield, bored 21st-century Jason heads to London, but is waylaid by a mint-popping highwayman...
In Jim Poyser's riotous comedy of transportation and delight, Jason is now Tarquin, third son of Lord Belport with faithful valet, Ned.
Stars Michael Begley as Jason Slater, Joe Caffrey as Ned, Kenneth Alan Taylor as Hoskins, Mark Chatterton as Lord Belport, Julia Rounthwaite as Millicent, James Nickerson as Henry, Toby Hadoke as the Highwayman and John Craig as the Duke of Cranmere.
Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2003.
FRI 07:30 There Was A Young Fellow Named Palin (m0001rzj)
Michael Palin, Britain’s nicest man, is probably Britain’s busiest man too, which might explain why he’s asked James Peak to step in and write him some limericks.
Limericks are the simplest of verse forms - only five lines, a bit of rhyming, and half of the first line "There once was a..." is already written for you.
It's child’s play you’d think - but writing a really good limerick is not as easy as it sounds.
Join Michael and James for a ridiculous half hour that proves, once and for all, that if you want something doing properly you should do it yourself.
With thanks to the National Poetry Library at the Southbank Centre.
Window Cleaner ….. Harriet Carmichael
Limerick Expert ….. Chris McCabe (as himself)
Written by Michael Palin and James Peak.
Producers: Andre Jacquemin and James Peak
A Goldhawk Essential production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 08:00 The Burkiss Way (b00cm26d)
Series 4
Is Britain Going the Burkiss Way? Part 1
All about 'things' and spoofing 'Just A Minute'. Starring Fred Harris, Jo Kendall, Nigel Rees and Chris Emmett.
Cult sketch comedy series which originally ran from 1976 to 1980.
Written by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1979.
FRI 08:30 Something to Shout About (m000clvw)
Series 3
Episode 7
It’s Monday morning and the staff is feeling fragile, with the sole exception of Maggie. She suggests a restorative trip to the countryside, to work on their shampoo campaign.
Michael Lightfoot.................... Michael Medwin
Maggie........................................ Eleanor Summerfield
Janet............................................. Fenella Fielding
Mavis........................................... .Joan Sims
Adrian Beates........................... Nicholas Phipps
Other characters...................... Warren Mitchell
Script by Myles Rudge and Ronnie Wolfe.
Produced by John Simmonds.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1961.
FRI 09:00 The Food Quiz (b0076mtq)
Series 2
Episode 3
On Jay Rayner's menu are Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Anissa Helou, Sue Lawrence and Charlie Hicks. From August 2004.
FRI 09:30 The Emerald Green Show (b076c11b)
Celebrations
A vain, ambitious black woman dreams of becoming a chat-show queen.
Lisselle Kayla's 4-part comedy series starring Llewella Gideon as Emerald Green.
With Jonathan Firth and Iwan Thomas.
Director: Pam Fraser Solomon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
FRI 10:00 Charles Dickens (b01b3fqd)
Little Dorrit
Episode 5
After her father's death Little Dorrit is still in Italy when the newly-married Fanny has a strange visit from Mr Merdle.
Arthur is struck by disaster and Mrs Clennam is forced to reveal the family secret at last.
Conclusion of Charles Dickens's masterpiece of social satire and imprisonment.
Starring Sir Ian McKellen as Charles Dickens.
Recorded on location in London.
Charles Dickens ...... Ian McKellen
Arthur Clennam ...... Julian Wadham
Mrs Clennam ...... Margaret Tyzack
Little Dorrit ...... Jasmine Hyde
Fanny Dorrit ...... Indira Varma
John Chivery ...... Ben Crowe
Flintwinch ...... Ioan Meredith
Mr Pancks ...... Philip Joseph
Mr Doyce ...... Jonathan Keeble
Mr Merdle ...... Kenneth Cranham
Chivery ...... Gordon Reid
Dramatised by Doug Lucie.
Music by Mia Soteriou
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2001.
FRI 11:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m000clvy)
British Audio Fiction with Ella Watts
Amanda Litherland and Ella Watts recommend some great British audio fiction. Featuring We Fix Space Junk, Victoriocity and Murmurs. Also David K Barnes discusses Wooden Overcoats.
FRI 12:00 The Burkiss Way (b00cm26d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 Something to Shout About (m000clvw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxgg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 The Shipwrecked Bears (b012r6tt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06c4l24)
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay
Episode 5
‘Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay’, the new novel from bestselling author William Boyd, follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the twentieth century.
In 1915, Amory’s uncle unknowingly sets her life on its course when he gives her a Kodak Brownie No. 2 as a present for her seventh birthday, igniting a lifelong passion for photography. Her camera will take her from high society London in the 1920s to the cabaret clubs and brothels of inter-war Berlin; to 1930s New York, the Blackshirt riots in London’s East End, and to France and Germany during the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers.
She eventually comes to rest on a remote Scottish island, where she drinks, writes and looks back on a personal life that has been just as rich and complex as her professional one. She remembers the men that have been closest to her – her father, her brother, her lovers – irreparably scarred by two world wars, and reflects upon her own experiences of conflict and loss, passion and joy.
William Boyd is the author of fourteen novels including A Good Man in Africa, An Ice-Cream War, Any Human Heart, Restless, Ordinary Thunderstorms, Waiting for Sunrise and Solo. He lives in London and South West France.
Read by Barbara Flynn
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Mair Bosworth
FRI 14:15 The Hidden Henry (b00kntj0)
Henry The Musician
In the final programme about hidden aspects of Henry VIII, marking the 500th anniversary of his coronation, Dr Stephen Rice, who researches and plays little-known renaissance music, investigates Henry VIII's musical abilties. Did he really compose 'Greensleeves' and other pieces attributed to him? He was certainly a patron of music, appreciating visits from foreign musicians and expanding the royal musical household. Dr Rice introduces music from the period, recently recorded by the Brabant Ensemble. He is joined by the Elizabeth Kenny, one of the UK's leading lutenists, and together they demonstrate how the repertoire reflects Henry's personal concerns, his poltical outlook, his religious convictions and his practical abilities as a musician and composer.
FRI 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b085yyzf)
Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey
Episode 10
Catherine returns to her home after her abrupt dismissal from Northanger Abbey. Will she ever know what she did wrong and more importantly will she ever see Henry Tilney again?
Jane Austen's satire pokes fun at the popular sensationalist fiction of the day.
Catherine ..... Georgia Groome
Henry ..... Luke Thompson
Mrs Morland ..... Alison Belbin
Mr Morland ..... John Bowler
Harriet ..... Keziah Joseph
George ..... Luke MacGregor
The Book ..... Miriam Margolyes
Directed by Sally Avens
By Jane Austen
Dramatised by Hattie Naylor
FRI 14:45 Book of the Week (b04vqvbq)
Ian Bostridge - Schubert's Winter Journey
Episode 5
Literature, religion and the hurdy-gurdy man. Internationally acclaimed tenor Ian Bostridge concludes his exploration of Schubert's existential masterpiece Winterreise, Winter's Journey.
Strange old man,
Should I go with you?
Will you to my songs
Play your hurdy-gurdy?
Written and read by Ian Bostridge
Abridged by Laurence Wareing
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
FRI 15:00 Charles Dickens (b01b3fqd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 The Food Quiz (b0076mtq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 The Emerald Green Show (b076c11b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 1834 (b011vffj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 There Was A Young Fellow Named Palin (m0001rzj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 Doctor Who (b08fjg55)
Serpent Crest
Survivors in Space, part 2/2
The Fourth Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey finally track down the hamlet of Hexford, just as the Skishtari Egg is about to hatch...
Tom Baker stars as the Fourth Doctor.
Conclusion of Paul Magrs’ five-story adventure,
The Doctor ...... Tom Baker
Mrs Wibbsey ...... Susan Jameson
The Visitor ...... David Troughton
Mike Yates ...... Richard Franklin
Deirdre ...... Nerys Hughes
Tish ...... Joanna Tope
Reverend Tongue ...... Cornelius Garrett
Lucius ...... Sam Hoare
Producer: Kate Thomas
Made by BBC Audio and reversioned for broadcast by BBC Radio 4 Extra.
FRI 18:30 Off the Page (b0076qjx)
Animal Lovers
Matthew Parris, Gerard Baker, Manda Scott and Hugh Thomson discuss our relationship with animals. From February 2005.
FRI 19:00 The Burkiss Way (b00cm26d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 Something to Shout About (m000clvw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxgg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 The Shipwrecked Bears (b012r6tt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m000clvy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 22:00 There Was A Young Fellow Named Palin (m0001rzj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 In and Out of the Kitchen (b03vd7cx)
Series 3
The After-Dinner
The tranquillity of the Trench household is breached once again when Damien's mother calls once morning to say she's coming to stay while Damien's father is on a silent retreat. No sooner has she arrived than she starts setting about trying to be helpful, which only irritates Damien more. He is therefore forced to spend some time away by accepting the offer of an after-dinner speaking engagement, something he's never tried before...
Cast:
Damien Trench - Miles Jupp
Anthony - Justin Edwards
Ian Frobisher - Philip Fox
Damien's mother - Selina Cadell
Jennifer - Priyanga Burford
Heckler - David Seddon
Nigel Thingummy - Michael Bertenshaw
Producer: Sam Michell.
FRI 23:00 Party (b01mwvkw)
Series 3
The Grundy
Series 3 of the satirical comedy about a group of young idealists trying to make waves with their new political party. This week the group visit Phoebe and 'The Grundy' in hospital. Written by Tom Basden.
Simon .... Tom Basden
Duncan .... Tim Key
Jared .... Jonny Sweet
Mel .... Anna Crilly
Phoebe .... Katy Wix
Male Nurse .... Jot Davies
Producer .... Julia McKenzie.
FRI 23:30 The Mel and Sue Thing (b0076b3z)
Episode 5
A tennis battle of the sexes, Jane Austen and TV sleuths. Sketches with Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins. From October 2002.